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Gentle-Fist Massage: The Series	By : PrplGrl Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Shikamaru/Neji Views: 1803 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Gentle-Fist
Massage V: Life of Shinobi
Part 1: �Enter
the Cold�

A violent shudder ran up Shikamaru�s
spine, throwing him out of slumber in an unpleasant way.� �Why is
it so fucking cold?!� he thought bitterly, snuggling deeper under the
covers.� One of his arms instinctively
reached for the love of his life on the other side of the bed and was
disappointed when all he grasped were cool sheets.
He lifted his head and glared at the
empty pillow beside him.� His sleepy mind
supplied the reminder that Neji was away on a mission, causing another shiver
down his spine.� His heart began beating
a little faster, worry heavy in his mind.
Shikamaru pushed it aside.� He�d always felt like that ever since his
lover had been enlisted into the Anbu.
Sighing heavily, the Nara got out of
bed; it was almost time to get up, anyway.�
He quickly darted to the shower, not understanding why he felt so
cold.� It was near the end of summer,
chilly nights and cool mornings wouldn�t be coming to Konoha for another month
at least.� He turned on the water and
jumped under the almost scorching liquid.�
It warmed his skin and he released a shuddering breath at the comfort it
brought.
Shikamaru wasn�t sure if he should know
that his love was in the secret band of ninja, but it had been Neji who told
him.� Whenever the Hyuga left on a
mission, the shadow wielder worried for him.�
He knew his lover was an excellent shinobi and it would take quite a bit
to harm him, but�.� The Nara supposed it
was just one of those spousal things, even though they weren�t technically
married� yet.
Ever since the� incident almost a year ago, now, when Shikamaru had almost killed
himself, he and Neji had referred to each other as �husband� every so
often.� It wasn�t until a few months ago
that the Hyuga proposed to the shadow wielder.
He smiled at the memory, rinsing the
shampoo from his hair.� It hadn�t been
anything extravagant or romantic.� It was
just Neji�s way, not even asking the �proper� question, more like softly
commanding.� Shikamaru couldn�t have said
no if he wanted to.� He loved the Hyuga
too much to simply remain �boyfriends.�
Making sure all the soap had been washed
from his body, the shadow wielder turned off the water and stepped out of the
shower stall, immediately missing the heat.�
He wrapped the big, fluffy towel around his cold body and dried off.
Tossing the soaked cloth onto the floor,
he exited the bathroom and darted to the dresser, quickly placing clothing onto
his clean skin.� It did little to warm
him completely, but was enough so he wasn�t trembling.� On the way to the door, he stopped to glance
at a picture sitting on the desk, as was his usual custom.
Only it wasn�t there.
Shikamaru raised a curious eyebrow at
seeing the frame lying on the floor.� It
held a photo of him and Neji at one of the many parties that had been held in
the past.� He kneeled on the floor and
picked it up.� The metal frame was
slightly bent and the glass was completely shattered on one side, obliterating
the view of Neji.� Long, spider web-like
cracks reached across the Nara in the picture, distorting his smiling face into
a look of sadness.
Shikamaru didn�t believe in
superstitions.
He sighed and placed the damaged frame
back on the desk.� He knew he had another
empty frame somewhere and his eyes gazed over the many boxes still piled in the
room.
Since their engagement, the Nara�s
parents had given him and Neji one of the cottages built on the Nara
estate.� It had a great view of the
forest they protected and easy access to the deer, which were always wandering
around.
He looked at the clock and decided that
he�d search later; the shadow wielder didn�t want to piss off Iruka by being late to the Academy� again.
Leaving the house, he walked at a steady
pace into the village, still wondering why the hell he was so cold.� The temperature couldn�t have been less than
sixty-five and he knew that was plenty warm enough.� So why the fuck did he want
to go back to his house and grab a winter sweater?!� He suppressed another shudder as a gust of
wind passed him, taking whatever body heat he did have and leaving him feeling
colder than before.
Several minutes later, Shikamaru was
making the final approach to the Ninja Academy, surprised he didn't freeze to
death on the way.
As he reached to open the door, a warm
hand touched his shoulder.� The Nara
turned to see his old jonin teacher standing behind
him.
�Hey there,
Asuma,� the shadow wielder greeted.
The older man was silent as he gazed at
the young chunin with a sad expression.� His eyes looked away after a moment, settling
somewhere over the Nara�s shoulder, and he lightly sighed.
A dark eyebrow rose up in curiousity.� �Is
something wrong, Asuma?� Shikamaru asked.
The jonin�s
orbs closed for a minute before he locked gazes with his ex-student again.� �The Hokage would like to see you,� he
whispered.
The Nara nodded, ignoring the heavy lurch
his heart made and the swirling of dread behind his bellybutton.� He walked in silence alongside the jonin, not wanting to pry out of the man what was going on;
if the Hokage herself had told him not to say a word about it, Asuma Sarutobi
would abide by her wishes.
Together they went to the top of Hokage
Tower and stopped at her office door.�
The Nara knocked and was ordered inside.�
He entered, but his former teacher didn�t follow; he merely shut the
door behind the younger man, shooting him a gloomy look.
Shikamaru placed that in the back of his
mind and stood before the old woman�s desk.
Tsunade had her hands folded together,
fingers twitching slightly as she gazed at a pile of papers lying in front of
her.� Her eyes held a pensive look while
dark flashes flicked around, making the Nara�s heart skip a beat.� Something wasn�t right.
She sighed heavily, leaning back in her
big chair, orbs looking up at the shadow wielder with a sad expression.� �I have some bad news,� she said slowly.
Shikamaru maintained her gaze, ignoring
the thoughts racing through his mind.�
All her mannerisms doubled with how she spoke and the way his former
sensei had acted all brought his strategic brain to a single conclusion, but he
refused to believe it.� Nothing would
make him consider such a thing.
�As you probably know,� she continued,
�Neji�s status is Anbu, thus I cannot tell you anything specific about the
mission he was assigned.� However, what I
can say is that he and his squad� ran into trouble.�� The Hokage stared into his eyes a moment more
before she stood.� She grabbed a bundle
of cloth from the desk and walked around it, coming to stand before the Nara
without breaking eye contact.� She gently
grabbed one of his wrists, forcing his hand from the warm confines of a pocket
and placed the bundle on his open palm.�
�I�m sorry,� she whispered.
Shikamaru looked at her for a long
while, searching for the lie he knew he�d never find.� His dark eyes slowly trailed down to the
cloth within his hand and he brought his other out of his pocket and began unwrapping the bundle very carefully.
The dark piece of fabric fell away, and
he found himself holding a Konoha headband.�
After a closer inspection, he realized it was Neji�s.
The Nara�s heart began beating a little
faster and his hand trembled.� There was
only one reason why his lover�s headband wouldn�t be on its owner.� Neji was�
�No!�
he thought.� �It� it can�t be!�
�Shikamaru?�
The shadow wielder�s gaze shot up to the
Hokage, breaths quick and uneven.� �Show
me the body,� he ordered, tone stern.
The older blonde lightly shook her
head.� �Shikamaru, I don�t think��
�Show me the body!� the Nara snapped,
barely able to hold back the tears threatening the corners of his eyes.
Tsunade sighed, gazing at him a long
moment before nodding and heading out of her office, Shikamaru right on her
heels.
It couldn�t be true; he didn�t want to
believe it.� Why would he?� He couldn�t give up just because of one
person�s word and a discarded headband.�
Anbu missions were top secret to anybody below those who worked with
them; anything could have happened!� How
did they know that the body they had was really the person they claimed it to
be?� The Nara�s mind was coming up with
all kinds of explanations to make this information false, even if some of them
were completely outrageous.
He clutched the headband tightly in his
hand.� He refused to believe it.
Shikamaru followed the Hokage down to
the morgue, just a few buildings away from the Tower.� The hallways were poorly lit, and he figured
it was because this area was mostly traveled by the Anbu, �and the mourners.�
�Shut
up!� he spat at the stray thought.
Finally, they stopped at a door.� Shikamaru�s heart was pounding heavily within
his chest, filling his ears with a loud throbbing and causing his breathing to
slightly increase.� He clenched and
unclenched his free hand in what he believed to be anxiousness.� All he wanted to do was go in there, tell
them that wasn�t his lover and leave to find Neji
waiting for him at home.� End of story.
Tsunade opened the door and they
entered.
The room was just as dark as the
hallways, only an oil lamp casting an eerie glow upon the sheet covering a
motionless corpse on the table.
Shikamaru�s heart felt like it was
trying to break free from his ribs, and he was sure the Hokage and two other
Anbu standing in the room could hear it as he walked up to the table.
The blonde nodded to one of the Anbu and
it moved to pull back the sheet; the Nara holding his breath as the face was
uncovered.
Several long and silent moments
passed.� The Nara wondered where all the
noise had gone that he had just heard seconds ago.� His dark eyes were wide as he gazed at the
too pale face of the person he loved most in the world.� His eyes were closed and his expression was
peaceful.� Some stray blood was spattered
across his cheek, looking as if to come from his shoulder, but the shadow
wielder couldn�t see.
The man lying on the table looked like
he would come to life at any moment, but the Nara now realized that wasn�t
possible.� The wrappings around his head
had been removed and his forehead was bare.�
The curse that had been placed upon him by the Hyuga clan was no longer
present on his too pale skin.� That only
happened when�.
��When the bearer of the curse dies.�
Shikamaru brought his free hand up and
slowly cupped the man�s cheek, flinching when he touched the dead flesh.� ��so cold.�� He gently
massaged the skin and felt a shiver run down his spine.� �He�s
dead,� he thought, the voice within his mind soft.� �He�s
gone.�
��Neji�� he whispered.
As soon as the word left his lips, the
Nara�s heart suddenly began beating within his chest at a frantic pace once
more while all the blood drained from his face.�
The double action was too much for his body and Shikamaru suddenly fell
into darkness, the last thing he saw was Neji�s peaceful expression in death.
- 6
- 7
- 8
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Gentle-Fist Massage: The Series