Chapter Text
(Nara Forest is like a more spooky Appalachian Mountain.
The monsters in the Nara Forest are loyal to the Nara, and listen to the head of the Nara clan.)
“What do you mean he’s gone?!” Yoshino slammed her hands down on the kitchen table, pushing herself out of her chair, said chair falling back with a screech. “What do you mean Shikamaru left the village to train with some random Shinobi!”
“No, not random.” Shikaku says through his teeth, letting out a sharp breath. He looked up to his wife, not bothering to get out of his seat. “Two of the Sannin. Jiraiya and Tsunade are not just some random Shinobi. And I mean what I said, Shikamaru left the village earlier today, and he will be back in… a year, two max.” He forced himself to take a deep breath, his fingers wrapping tightly around the leg of his chair, continuing to speak through his teeth. “Fawn promised to write to us, so you do not have to worry, he’s not going to be completely no contact while he’s gone.”
Yoshino’s face was red, she was fuming. “Why wasn’t I told about this?!” She yells.
“Because you wouldn’t have let him go!” Shikaku shot back, his own frustration bubbling to the surface. He stood up, meeting his wife’s furious gaze. “You wouldn’t have let him go! You don’t treat him like he’s a Nara! So no, I didn’t fucking tell you the plan me and the Hokage came up with! Because you would have thrown a bitch fit! Shikamaru’s not a child, Yoshino, he’s a Nara and you seem to forget that every chance you get!”
Yoshino’s eyes narrowed, her hand itching to slap her husband, but she held herself back. “How dare you talk to me like that! I’m your wife, I’m his mother!”
“Right now I couldn’t give a flying motherfucking, fuck who you are!” Shikaku snapped back, his patience wearing thin. “Shikamaru’s gone, he left hours ago with Tsunade and her apprentice. He’s going to be trained by the Legendary Sannin. I’m sorry that you’re so blinded by your own fears that you can’t see that he’s going to become something great, but he’s going to do it, with or without your permission!”
Yoshino’s hand slapped his face, the sound echoing through the room. “How dare you talk to me like that, Shikaku Nara!”
“… you have five minutes to get the fuck out of my house and to never come back.” Shikaku’s voice was cold, his eyes burning with a rage Yoshino hadn’t seen in a long time. “You and I are over, forever. I will fill out our divorce papers tomorrow when I go to work.”
The room went eerily silent, the only sounds were of their heavy breathing. Yoshino’s hand stung from the force of the slap she had delivered, but she felt nothing but a cold anger coursing through her. Shikaku had never talked to her like this before. He was always the one trying to keep the peace, the one who backed down. But this time, it was different.
Her eyes searched his, looking for any sign of regret, any hint of doubt in his words, but all she found was a resolve she had never seen before. Her heart raced as she took in the gravity of the situation. This wasn’t a fight they could just brush off and move on from. This was a declaration of war.
“Is this really what you want, Shikaku? To throw away our marriage over a child’s dream?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“HA!” Shikaku laughed cruelly, kicking his down chair away from him. He stood up to his full height in what felt like years. Shikaku, much like the rest of the Nara, slouched, moved with lazy efficiency. But Shikaku was not a small man, quite the contrary, he was one of the tallest in the village, a good foot and a half taller than his wife. “Ruin this marriage? Ruin this marriage, HUH?! This marriage has been ruined since the second I put that fucking ring on your finger!”
The words were like a slap across Yoshino’s face, and she flinched as if she had been. She had always known Shikaku felt underappreciated, but she had never thought it was this bad. Her mind raced, trying to find the right words to say, to fix this, but she came up short. The room felt smaller, the air thicker with unspoken resentment and pain.
“Remember, Yo-shi-no,” Shikaku said her name slowly, each syllable a dagger. “You forced Me to marry You. I never wanted this marriage, but I did marry you, I did. I did because I knocked you up and you didn’t want to do this like adults, you were going to keep my son away from me if I didn’t marry you. You weren’t going to let me see him, you weren’t going to let me be a part of his life, you weren’t going to let me raise him like a Nara, like a father’s son should be raised. So you better remember, you’re the one who wanted this marriage, not ME. That was all YOU!”
Yoshino felt like she had been punched in the stomach. She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know what to feel. The tears that had been threatening to spill over her eyes were now a river cascading down her cheeks. She had always known that Shikaku had agreed to marry her because she was pregnant, but she had hoped that over the years, he had grown to love her, that she had earned his affection and respect. To hear him say that he had never wanted to marry her, that their entire life together was because of a forced hand was like having her heart torn from her chest.
“I tried to love you.” Shikaku said through his teeth in a sharp breath. “I did, I tried to love you, but then you started getting physical. You started hitting, slapping, punching, scratching, and you yelled, you cursed, you screamed, you threw stuff at me, you did everything that could make me fucking hate you and you know what? It worked, Yoshino. I don’t love you. Never did. I stay because of our son, not for you.” He snarled, his eyes flashing with something akin to anger and resentment.
“You know, Fawn’s been asking me since he was four why we haven’t gotten a divorce yet, did you know that? Every time we fight he asks me why I stay with a woman who thinks hitting me is okay when we fight, when we argue, when you don't get your way.” Shikaku’s voice grew colder with each word, his eyes never leaving hers. “So I think I’m finally going to listen to MY boy. Finally take the advice he’s been giving me, I am divorcing you. And before you start Fawn couldn’t give a shit if you leave. Because if you haven’t realized, you scare our son. Shikamaru is scared of you, Yoshino.”
Yoshino’s hand shot out, slapping Shikaku, again, hard across the face, a sharp sound echoing through the room. “How dare you say that? I’m his mother! I’ve raised him since he was born! How could he possibly be scared of me?” she screamed, tears falling down her face.
Something seemed to snap in Shikaku. Yoshino watched Shikaku’s face shift, shifting into the face of a man Yoshino didn’t know, a man Yoshino didn’t want to know. The expression on the man’s face in front of her was mean, no, not just mean, it was… scary and cold. His eyes narrowed, and he leaned over the table, closer to Yoshino. His hand shot out and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, and hauled her over the table and dragged her across the floor towards the front door as if she weighed nothing more than a couple of apples.
Yoshino struggled in Shikaku's grip, her eyes wide with shock and anger. She had never seen this side of him, the side that didn't flinch or give in to her tantrums. His strength was surprising, a stark contrast to the lazy demeanor he often portrayed. He kicked the door open and threw her outside, watching her stumble and roll across the grassy ground.
Yoshino stumbled to her feet, her heart racing with a mix of fear and disbelief.
Shikaku was still staring at her, and he looked more like one of those monsters her mother used to tell her stories about hidden in the woods that ate people than her husband. She had never seen his eyes like that. They were cold, so cold… so… so mean, so scary, she felt like she was looking into the pits of hell.
When Shikaku spoke he didn’t sound like himself either. His voice was… not right, it sounded like a monster trying to mimic a human's voice. It was good, it sounded real, but it was just… not right. “I, Shikaku Nara, the head of the Nara clan, is banishing Yoshino Nara, maiden name Takeyaki, from the Nara family.” He sounded like he was saying a ritual. “Yoshino Nara, now Yoshino Takeyaki once more, is no longer welcome in the Nara compound, she is no longer the wife of Shikaku Nara, she is no longer the mother of Shikamaru Nara. I, Shikaku Nara, say this with the intent of severing the Nara ties to Yoshino Takeyaki.” He finished, and suddenly the forest surrounding the compound was too quiet, too dark, too eerie, like something was watching them.
Yoshino stared at Shikaku in disbelief. She didn’t know what the hell he was going on about. She didn’t know why he was speaking like that. Like he was reciting a death sentence. “What do you mean, Shikaku?” she asked, her voice shaking.
Shikaku stared at her for a brief second before turning his gaze to the forest behind her, his gaze snapping in between things she couldn’t see, couldn’t make out in the darkness, but she knew something was there, something had to be there with the way she felt like she was being watched. “I mean that you’re no longer welcome here, Yoshino. You’re no longer part of the Nara Clan.” He said, his voice colder than she’d ever heard it before, and she took a step back. “You should leave, Yoshino, they’re hungry.” He nodded towards the forest, and she knew he wasn’t talking about the deer.
“Wh-what’s h-hungry?” Yoshino stuttered, fear lacing her voice. She had never seen this side of her husband before, and she had no idea what he meant by those cryptic words. The forest around the compound remained eerily silent, the only sound being the rustling of leaves as the wind blew through.
From what she knows, there should only be deer in the Nara Clan Forest. Maybe some bunny rabbits, foxes, some owls, and a bear or four, but definitely not what her husband was referring to.
"The deer," she whispered, taking another step back. "What do you mean, 'they're hungry'? What are you hiding from me, Shikaku?"
“I’m not talking about the deer.” Shikaku said, his voice as calm as a still pond. “What I just told I banished you from the Nara clan are not deer. They are far from deer. What I just told I banished you from the Nara clan are not friendly, not something you want to meet, especially not in the dark.” He turned his gaze back to her, and for a moment, she thought she saw a flicker of something in his eyes, something she’d never seen before. It was like looking into the eyes of a predator, not her husband. “So if I were you, I wouldn’t cut through the forest, I would stay on the path to leave the compound, because it’s been a very long time since I’ve let them eat and I’m sure they’re quite hungry. And they like to keep their prey alive, as long as possible before consuming them fully. They find it more... entertaining that way. I just gave them permission to eat without saying it out loud when I banished you.”
Yoshino felt the blood drain from her face. She didn’t know what he meant, but she knew she didn’t like the sound of it. The forest was dark and foreboding, and she had never been allowed to venture in without an escort of Nara clan members. The very thought of being out there alone, with something stalking her, waiting to pounce... she shuddered. “What are you talking about?” she demanded, her voice trembling.
Shikaku blinked at her, shifting to lean against the door. He grabbed the flashlight they kept on the table beside the door, pointing towards the forest. "You really want me to show one of them to you?" He asked, his voice still eerily calm. He lifted the flashlight and flicked it on before she could answer, shining it out into the woods.
Something screeched like it was being set on fire, trying to shield its white body from the light. It was a creature that was definitely not one of the Nara Clan’s gentle deer. It had red eyes, and a body like a human’s, it walked around on all fours, trying to hide away from the light as Shikaku twisted his wrist to follow its movements with the flashlight beam. It was naked, and its jaws were too big, too wide, and it had way too many razor sharp teeth that jutted out from its mouth in every direction.
“That’s what’s hungry.” Shikaku said calmly, watching the thing convulse and try to get away from the light, rolling around on the ground as if it was on fire and trying to put it out. Screaming, snorting, and snarling the entire time. Yoshino stared in horror as its white skin almost glowed in the dark. “And that’s what wants to eat you since I banished you. So, leave.” He said, his voice a cold whisper.
Yoshino didn’t need to be told twice, she bolted. Running as fast and as hard as she could away from the forest, her heart pounding in her ears. She didn’t dare to look back, she didn’t know how fast these creatures were but she didn’t want to find out. She could feel her legs burning, begging for her to stop but she didn’t dare to, not even once. She didn’t know where she was going, she just knew she had to get as far away from that forest as she could.
Shikaku watched her go, finally turning off the flashlight. He could hear things chasing after her, but she had a good head start. He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead against the door frame, letting out a sigh. That was one messy situation handled. It wasn’t something he liked to do, but he would do it if it was necessary.
He opened his eyes once he felt something heavy land on his engawa. There was another one of those creatures perched at the edge of his engawa, right in the corner. It looked at him curiously, its head tilted to the side as it pointed at its own face, in the same spot Shikaku had the angry looking red handprint on his face. It has a baby on its hip.
“Yeah,” Shikaku breathed out, rubbing his eyes. “… yeah, she hit me. Twice.”
The creature looked at him, then looked at its hand, then back at him. It was like it was trying to understand the situation. It was a bizarre sight, the creature, trying to grasp human emotions.
Shikaku pointed in the direction Yoshino ran, then to his own hand, and then to his face and holding up two fingers. He mimicked the slapping motion, twice. The creature watched him intently, jolting when he mimicked the slap to demonstrate the action. Its eyes grew wide and it made a low, rumbling noise in its throat. It held its baby tighter, holding it to its chest.
“My Fawn,” Shikaku pointed at his own hair, then brought his hand down to the height of his son. “Is scared—” he made a motion with his hands, ringing them together before coming up to cover his mouth. “— of her,” he pointed in the direction Yoshino ran. “She hits and yells—” he made the slapping motion again, and then pointed to his mouth, flicking his fingers out multiple times. “— all the time.” he held out one of his hands, closing his fingers, one by one before opening it and repeating. “That’s why I banished her.” He made a sweeping motion with his hands, as if dispelling something. “Shikamaru is scared of her.” He repeated the actions he used for his son and scared of her.
The creature stared at him, tilting its head to one side before letting out a low growl of understanding. It took off after Yoshino, its movements swift and silent. The head of the Nara Clan watched his wife fleeing, the sound of her screams echoing through the trees. A smirk twisted on his lips.