Despite the fact that he would have preferred to do otherwise, that night they rested for at least a few hours at an inn they found along the way. Harika was exhausted, and he needed to know what day it was in his dimension. He had roughly calculated the passage of time, but it was always better to make sure of things with a clock and a calendar. Although it seemed like he had spent an eternity searching for Harika, in reality only about 29 hours had passed in his dimension. Which amounted to just over 12 days.
Shikamaru stared fixedly at the inn's ceiling, marked by dampness. The most important thing now was to return to Konoha and come up with a good excuse for having run away with Naruto for almost two whole weeks. Damn it. In the best case scenario, nobody would have noticed because Ino and Chouji knew his plans, and they knew he needed help. In the worst case scenario? His family and the higher-ups in Konoha knew about his disappearance and were actively looking for them or waiting for them in Konoha, or both. Thank God he had left those clones behind. With a bit of luck, only a few days would have passed since they noticed his departure instead of 12 days.
He looked at Harika, sleeping peacefully on the futon, and allowed himself to open the window to get some fresh air. Something inside him twisted every time he even thought about leaving her alone, but he needed to clear his mind. He let out a silent snort of laughter when he saw Naruto, in the adjacent room, sitting on the windowsill of his own window.
"Can't sleep?" Naruto asked, without a trace of tiredness on his features.
"I'm thinking about the second part of the plan..."
"About what the fuck we're going to do now when we get back to the village?"
"... In other words, yes."
He needed to know what the situation in the village was like to finalize his plans, but it would not be like him to return to Konoha without thinking ahead and coming up with several plans. His mind was incapable of not reminding him of the situation he was in. Were they fucked? Possibly. Was there a way out? He was almost certain there was. Fortunately, Tsunade-sama considered Naruto family and, luckily for him, Naruto had agreed to accompany him on his journey. Looking at it that way, it was clear that his punishment would most likely be nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
The light of dawn woke him from his few hours of rest. He did not need much considering he had not officially been on a mission and had barely spent any chakra, but even so, resting his mind was exactly what he needed.
"Are we leaving?" Harika asked when she saw him awake.
"After breakfast."
The journey felt long, yet strangely short. Perhaps because a small part of him expected the worst. To save quite a bit of time, he ran the rest of the way with his girlfriend on his back. Harika, obviously, used her magic to weigh as much as a feather, so he had no problem running all day without rest. When the village gates began to come into view, he felt a small knot in his stomach. They stopped nearby but out of the sentinels' line of sight.
"What now?" Naruto asked, crouching beside him behind some thick bushes. "Do we use my toads to get in again?"
"That would be best."
It took them less than 10 minutes to get through the barriers without any trouble. Shikamaru, followed by Harika and Naruto, all of them with different appearances, walked through the streets toward Harika's apartment. Shikamaru tried to listen for any rumours as they walked among the civilians, but there was nothing strange that caught his attention. It felt strange to realize that it seemed like nothing had changed. It was a possibility he had already considered, that perhaps, with a bit of luck, nobody would have missed them in 13 days... even so, he knew it could not be that easy. He almost never had that kind of luck.
"Look," his girlfriend said, pulling him out of his thoughts. She pointed at something on the floor by her entrance. "I think it's for you."
Shikamaru picked up the envelope. There was only an "S" written on the back, but he immediately recognized Ino's handwriting. Naruto, sitting at Harika's round table, dropped his backpack on the floor and then proceeded to lean back with a tired sigh, balancing himself.
"Not that it's any of your business, but I'm going to take a shower. I need to process everything that's happened these past few weeks."
"All right."
Shikamaru kissed her on the cheek and then, unable to let her go, kissed her on the lips. He felt her smile against his lips before she squeezed his hand and turned away, closing the bathroom door behind her.
"Who is the note from?"
"Ino. Let's see what it says."
"Shikamaru,
I don't know when you'll see this note, but it's already been 7 days since you left. I'll try to write a note every week to keep you up to date when you return.
I know the idea was to confess everything as soon as they noticed your absence, but Chouji and I have changed the plan. We're your friends, and your team, and we're not going to let them reprimand you, or worse, for following your heart for the first time in your life. Just so you know, every time I think about what's happening, I get a little teary-eyed. Who would've thought that you would be the first one on this team to tell the village to fuck off! I never thought you had it in you.
Anyway, the idea was to confess, but Chouji (yes, you read that right) wasn't on board. So, we decided to pretend to be you from time to time so that your presence would be registered in the village. But there was a problem. Actually, 2 problems: missions and your father. In the end, there was no choice but to play my ace in the hole. I confessed everything to Sakura. Yes, I know what you're going to say, but before you start yelling, just know that I had no choice.
Five days went by without any problems, but on the sixth day they were going to send you on a mission, so I had to ask Sakura to prepare a medical excuse to keep you, and Naruto, in the hospital. Obviously, that brought up the next problem. Your father started wondering why he couldn't see you, so congratulations, you've been suffering from a viral infection that has kept you in quarantine at the hospital for the past few days. That gives you about 2 more weeks of leeway.
That means you shouldn't return to your parents' house. We've left another note like this at your house, but I didn't know whether you'd return there or to Harika's apartment."
Shikamaru finished reading Ino's letter, in which she informed him of everything that had happened in the village during his absence so that he could study what he was supposedly supposed to have been doing.
"So, nobody noticed?" Naruto asked, eating something he found in Harika's fridge while he gave him a surely exasperated and cynical look.
"Mmm..."
Shikamaru doubted that his team's strategy had worked with his father. Perhaps they had managed to fool the other villagers, simply because they were not family and did not care what he did or did not do, but his father... The quarantine excuse might work, but Shikaku Nara was distrustful by nature.
The logical thing to do now would be to go to the hospital and spend the rest of the quarantine there to tie up the loose ends. Sakura could let his father see them without getting too close, so that nobody would suspect his team's lies. However, doing this would leave Harika alone. Again. And he still did not know with 200% certainty whether it was Temari or not who was behind all of this. What if he was wrong? Yes. She was now prepared for a possible attack, but he did not want to take that risk because maybe next time it would not be a kidnapping but... He did not even want to think about it.
"Well?" the voice of his girlfriend, fresh out of the shower, pulled him out of his thoughts.
Shikamaru stretched out a hand, pulling her toward him, and hugged her against his body. Naruto did not even lift his head from the still-fresh leftovers that Harika had in, or had had in, her fridge. He showed her the letter. Perhaps she had some other idea that could help him come up with a plan.
"What if you leave a clone at the hospital?"
"Mmm... A clone would be better than Ino or Chouji disguised as me, but it's still risky. My father knows my abilities well. I've trained with him a lot. It's very possible he would manage to figure out that it's a clone."
"Even from a distance, through the glass?" Naruto asked.
"It's possible. We have to take every possibility into account."
"What if you leave the clone with me?"
Harika's question did not take him by surprise because he had already been thinking about it, but he still did not like it. A clone could be dispelled in an attack, which would leave Harika alone again, but it would also alert him at the hospital to what was happening. Perhaps, with one of his girlfriend's portkeys, it would be enough to position himself beside her in a second in case of another attack. He did not like the options they had, but logically he knew which one was the best.
"I'm going to need one of your portkeys," he finally said when he had made up his mind. "It would be best if Naruto and I went to the hospital to spend this quarantine..."
"We could ask Sakura-chan to 'shorten' our stay."
"If that's possible, that would be great."
"And you'll leave a clone with me, right?" Harika asked rhetorically, completely convinced of it. He nodded. "All right. I'll prepare the portkey with my coordinates."
Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was accepting his plan without arguing. He would have expected at least a little resistance after they had been violently separated, but he understood why. With his clone, Harika would not really be alone. Naruto put his things away in a hidden scroll, waiting for him to say goodbye to his girlfriend. Shikamaru knew that the longer they delayed, the more likely it was that someone would discover the deception. They had to go to the hospital that same night. The sooner he went, the sooner he would get out of there.
"I'm not going to order you to, but please, stay here for as long as possible," he almost begged quietly, catching a glimpse of his friend's back near the entrance.
Harika nodded with shining eyes. "I understand. I have enough food that I won't have to go out for months. And the barriers will protect me as long as I'm here. I'm not going out again. Not after..."
Shikamaru nodded. He kissed his girlfriend's lips one last time, avoiding getting too wrapped up in her for fear he would not be able to leave. Before he could think twice about it, he turned around and left with Naruto, clutching the pendant Harika had given him as a teleporter.
"And now what?" Naruto whispered as they quickly descended the stairs of her building and looked out at the street through the tiny square window.
"Now we go to the hospital. As soon as we dispel the fake clones that Ino or Chouji have left, they'll know we're here. In fact, I'll take the opportunity to send them a message. With a bit of luck, they can contact Sakura tomorrow morning and we'll get out of the hospital quickly without anyone realizing anything."
"Huh... It would be strange if nobody had found out anything."
"Well, fortunately, we have good friends in the village willing to cover our backs and, on top of that, the higher-ups seem to trust us. Why would you and I leave Konoha, of all people? Besides, not enough days have passed for them to start getting suspicious, even without Ino, Sakura and Chouji's help."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
They ran through the shadows without anyone detecting them. The hospital was relatively close, so they slipped in through one of the ground-floor windows, one occupied by a genin with both legs broken and freshly operated on. He did not notice them even when they opened and closed his door, so they sneaked upstairs, avoiding the few nurses patrolling the corridors, and made it to the top floor.
Shikamaru signalled Naruto and then proceeded to incapacitate the nurse on duty, a mid-ranking ninja.
"At this rate, they're going to notice," Naruto whispered as he and Shikamaru's newly created clone watched him steal the key to his room.
"Let's go. We don't have time."
The clone of his team seemed to be asleep, but as soon as they opened the door, the eyes of his fake self snapped open. The smile was literally Ino's, so he knew who had been in charge of leaving that clone that night.
"You're finally here."
"I know, I know. Let me tell you a few things and then you can disappear," he said, putting on the clothes the clone handed him while watching from the corner of his eye as Naruto's clone locked him back inside. "Listen..."
...
Shikamaru's eyes snapped open. He felt his parents' presence approaching his glass-enclosed room, accompanied by Sakura. As soon as he saw them, he felt strange. It was the first time in his life that he had "rebelled" in such a way, and his parents were not even aware of his interdimensional journey. He could have stayed there by mistake, he could have seen his parents for the last time. He felt... uncomfortable. No, perhaps the best description was uneasily relieved that his plan had gone off without a hitch. Now that almost everything was returning to normal, it was as if the nerves of the past few days had become even more apparent.
And he said almost because he had not forgotten about Temari, if she really was the one responsible for all of this.
"Shikamaru! How are you, son?" his mother asked, approaching the glass.
"Better."
"Today we'll run the tests again. With a bit of luck, the treatment will have worked. In fact, from what I'm being told, it's possible that Naruto will be discharged today."
Sakura's more-than-rehearsed words almost brought a smile to his face, but he did not move a muscle as he met his father's steady, though unconcerned, gaze. He nodded, and his father nodded too, and after a few minutes of superficial conversation, they left to let Sakura take a sample. They said nothing while their friend pretended to follow protocol, sent the sample to the "laboratory," and made him wait several hours in silence to find out whether he was completely cured or not.
Several healthcare workers passed by, looking at him with curiosity or simply going about their business without even paying attention to him. Shikamaru closed his eyes, trying not to think about anything. He was going to have to return to his house because otherwise, he would arouse suspicion even from his mother. He hoped he could visit Harika that same night, or at least talk to her through the mirror Hermione had given him.
Hours later, Sakura appeared again, accompanied by a smiling Naruto and another unfamiliar nurse, and he knew he was going to get out of there.
"Good news. The infection seems to have subsided, although you'll need to rest for at least another couple of days. How are you feeling?"
"Fine. I can't wait to get out of here."
The nurse snorted with laughter. "That's what they all say."
She gave him a bag containing medicine and his "belongings." Sakura said nothing while he got dressed, although it was clear that she was dying to ask him about everything. He knew that Ino and Chouji, whom he had sent a message through the disappeared clone, would be waiting at his house. He hoped that would keep his parents, especially his mother, away for a few hours while he told them exactly what had happened.
He left the hospital, glancing in the direction of his girlfriend's house, but a silent yet meaningful shake of Naruto's head let him know that he would keep watch while Shikamaru could not do so himself. He hurried to his house, still feeling tense. As he passed by his parents' house, he sensed his mother's familiar presence, but not his father's. He was probably back in his office, taking care of the village as usual.
"Shikamaru!" Ino's shout as soon as he opened the door made him relax a little. "What happened!? Is everything all right?"
"Shika," Chouji greeted him, sitting in one of the chairs.
"One moment."
The fuinjutsu barriers rose as if nothing had happened after he activated them. He could not sense anyone, but that did not mean they could not be spying on him. He sat heavily in one of the dining room chairs, letting out a sigh that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. Ino looked considerably more worried than Chouji, but as she gradually absorbed the fact that he was fine, her concern gave way to growing irritation.
"Well? How much longer do we have to wait? What happened? Did you come back with Harika? Was it Temari after all?"
"As if he would come back without her," Chouji snorted, pulling a bag of food from his pocket.
"I came back with her, and with Naruto, obviously. As for Temari... I'm pretty sure it was her. I need to talk to a couple more people in the village, and then I'll know for sure whether she really left or not when she was supposed to."
"And if it was her, then what? What are you going to do?"
"That's what I still haven't figured out..."
"We should report all of this to Tsunade-sama. Harika is formally a civilian of the village who was kidnapped on our territory."
Shikamaru said nothing, but Chouji's words unsettled him. That option was the best for everyone since it would legally punish Temari, but it involved both villages and Harika, something he wanted to avoid at all costs knowing that his girlfriend's secret was truly dangerous; besides, nobody could guarantee that Temari would receive any punishment since her victim had been an "ordinary" civilian. Even so, taking justice into his own hands would mean attacking Temari in some way, and she was the Kazekage's sister. Naturally, Gaara would have to act to protect his sister, especially because he did not know why Temari had been the target of his attack.
No matter how much his mind went over it, it told him one thing while his heart told him another. What he needed, more than anything, was proof. He had to prove that Temari had done what he was accusing her of. It would take a few days, but he had to do it. Otherwise, the legal route would be ruled out completely.
"I don't know. Right now I have to gather evidence," he said aloud, "but we can't let this go."
"Of course not. Yesterday it was Harika, and tomorrow it might be one of my cousins. We can't let whoever it was get away with it without any punishment."
"As for the evidence... we knew you were going to need it, so we've gathered everything we could."
Shikamaru opened the bag on the floor at Chouji's nod and saw the incendiary device, photographs of some damage that Harika's barriers had failed to cover on Naruto's adjacent facade, photographs of footprints on the landing of the apartment... there was even an unofficial report of the list of people who had left the village in the past few weeks and another report of Temari's entry into Konoha.
"We've also spoken to the neighbours in the building and the surrounding buildings," Ino explained, taking out a notebook filled with notes. "It seems someone saw 'Naruto' entering the building at 1:35 a.m."
"Naruto told us he'd been training and that he'd arrived at his house that night, right? And Harika gave him the scroll that same night. It would be easy to corroborate with him what time he last saw Harika."
"That would mean whoever saw the attacker had already seen him disguised as Naruto. Naruto's testimony would prove that someone attacked Harika in the same building that early morning."
"Besides, several people heard the sound of glass breaking and some kind of shockwave. They looked out the window, but only saw the fire at the back of the house. A couple of neighbours reported the incident, but when they arrived to put out the fire, they saw that there was no damage."
"Harika's barriers took effect almost instantly," he murmured, mentally taking note of the information as his eyes scanned the neighbors' statements, most of them civilians. "Aren't they investigating it?"
"...I'm afraid they are."
Shikamaru sighed. He would have preferred otherwise, but with several witnesses, being a ninja village and, judging by the smell of accelerant coming from the charred rag that had been wrapped around a glass bottle, it was obvious that it was bound to pique some people's curiosity.
Ino and Chouji left a couple of hours later, after bombarding him with questions about what had happened and what he had seen. He knew he would have to talk to Sakura, who had covered for him for days, so he sighed exhaustedly and collapsed onto the sofa. Not even 5 minutes had passed before his stomach growled, so he created a clone to prepare some food when he realized that his fridge was either empty or full of spoiled food.
"Fuck..."
He hesitated over whether to send a clone, but eventually got up. It was the perfect excuse to walk past his girlfriend's house. It was late, so he knew she should be resting, perhaps even sleeping, but at least feeling her presence behind her barriers would help calm him down.
The village had not changed at all. Nobody seemed to have missed him, he thought with relief. The truth was that he had no desire to answer questions that would inevitably lead back to Harika. He did not want to put her in danger, or make things worse than they already were by having her live in a ninja village and be his partner. Damn it... if he were less selfish, he would have let her go, but he could not forget that she wanted to be with him and how lucky he was because of that.
He bought everything he needed, wanting to avoid making any more trips over the next few days, and then returned home at a leisurely pace. There was no light in Harika's apartment, but there was one in Naruto's, so he felt less worried as he headed home, leaving his girlfriend behind. He passed by his parents' house again and was a little surprised when he did not sense his father's presence even though it was already dinner time.
As soon as he opened the door to his own house, he sensed that he was not alone. Unable to help himself, he sighed wearily.
"Why don't we go inside and you explain what this whole charade is about?"
"Fuck..."
His father's voice was like a bucket of cold water, just as unexpected as it was irritating. He sighed for the umpteenth time that week. He did not even turn around as he opened the door and left it open behind him, hearing his father's light footsteps follow him inside the house. The one he was still getting used to living in alone.
He tossed the keys onto the table and busied himself putting the groceries away. His father, as if nothing were wrong, sat at the table waiting for him with his hands clasped in front of him.
"Tea? Water? Beer?"
"Am I going to need a beer?"
"Perhaps a glass of sake..."
"...Then sake."
When he could no longer avoid it, Shikamaru turned around and brought his father a glass of sake. He looked at the bottle, but eventually left it there with them. His father raised an eyebrow but accepted the glass.
"What's going on, Shikamaru?"
"I don't even know where to start," he laughed, downing the sake in one go. "Perhaps at the beginning."
"Yes, that's usually the most optimal option."
"A few months ago I was sent on a mission..."
Shikamaru proceeded to tell him in painstaking detail everything that had happened from the moment he had been poisoned, and nearly died, to the moment Harika had surprised him by moving to Konoha with Naruto's help. He almost choked again, angry all over again, when he talked about his breakup with Temari and Harika's kidnapping.
"So... in less than three months you've met the woman you intend to spend the rest of your life with, who also happens to be an interdimensional traveller, and you've also gotten into a conflict with the Kazekage's sister. Not to mention that you left Konoha without permission, taking the jinchuriki of the Land of Fire with you, and used those portals to rescue your girlfriend. Oh, and your team has covered for you this entire time, putting themselves at risk of exile, with the help of the Hokage's apprentice."
"...Yes."
"..."
His father's face was inscrutable. Shikamaru filled his fourth glass of sake, feeling relieved to have confessed everything to one of the people he loved most. His father stretched out an arm, took the bottle of alcohol, and filled his own glass to the brim before proceeding to down it like a shot.
"I want to meet her." Shikamaru almost choked. "I want to meet the woman who's going to be the mother of my grandchildren."
"And that's it?"
"Oh, no. Not at all. We'll see what your punishment will be."
"I'm an adult."
"But you're my son, my heir."
"..."
"Don't make that face," Shikaku Nara laughed, as if they were talking about the weather. "When can we meet her?"
"We?"
"Of course. Your mother won't be happy if we hide her for much longer."
Shikamaru sighed, holding back an exasperated groan. "I suppose you're right."
"And after that... we'll think about what to do with Temari."
"Do? I thought you were going to convince me to report her to the Hokage."
"Oh, no. No. Harika Potter is going to be part of our clan sooner or later. Rather sooner, judging by the way you talk and how your pulse rises every time you think about her," his father snorted with laughter, while Shikamaru felt his ears turn violently red, much to his father's amusement. "No. This is a matter for our clan and, therefore, we will be the ones to deal with Temari. One way or another, she will pay for hurting you, both of you."
Shikamaru said nothing, but he felt strangely comforted when he saw the malicious gleam in his father's dark eyes. Temari would get what she deserved.