#( shikamaru screaming internally while giving the most blank expression he's SO TIRED SO DEAD )

[lumitris]

┊ ┊⋆ ┊ . 𝒥𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝑒𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝒟𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈 ◞ 𝖒𝖊𝖒𝖊 . ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ @supremebirb ⤸ ❛ i won’t stop killing until you kill me. ❜ haunting!hidan @ shikamaru. perhaps his chakra is a miasma rising from his grave, poisoning the soil & all that grows in it, the wells people draw their water from- sayyyy if shika tossed hidan's head back into his grave after confronting it? he just wants uppie outtie shika :/ why you gotta bury a holy man ur an idiot tbh-

It couldn't get any worse, && somehow, it kept dragging him further down this insane rabbit hole. If he were any other man, he's sure he'd of lost his mind by now; what person could deal with a HAUNTING from the past like this? A twisted and sick reminder of a chapter he'd closed years ago, back again like a bad rash.

Shikamaru couldn't tell anyone; not his friends, his team, not Naruto. No, something always stopped him, and maybe it was his own arrogance coming into play, but this was his burden to deal with. He was the one who had finished this nightmare, and he intended to keep it that way.

❝ We both know it ain't that simple. Trust me. If you could stay dead, I'd have finished this long ago. ❞

Staying in the grave was no longer an option. Jaw tightens, teeth grinding, as he tries to remain calm. Focused. The fear he'd felt when they had first met was also long gone, but, there was no getting those maddening eyes from his mind; and now, they bore into his very soul all over again.

❝ At the very least, you're no longer a threat. ❞

But his chakra... this miasma of sorts that kept polluting the surrounding area, threatening harm to the sacred deer of this forest, that was what he was most worried about. Without his partner around, he didn't have to worry about Hidan getting back up. Without a body, there wasn't much to be concerned about.

❝ This was supposed to be your grave. Any normal person would have decayed by now. You akatsuki really are something else. ❞ It wasn't a compliment, and he feels the beads of sweat drip down his forehead, his neck, and shaken his gaze. This really was a bad nightmare.

Just what would Asuma think? Even conversing with the man who killed his sensei felt wrong on so many levels.

He had his teacher's kid to think about too.

❝ If you think I'm letting you go, you'd be dead wrong. ❞

If this was his tactic, then he definitely forced Shikamaru's hand. For a guy who wasn't so bright, he could be too troublesome for his own good.

Just what was he supposed to do right now?

First, he had to calm down. Then, access the situation before him. He could still bite him, even just as a head he posed a problem. If he invested Shikamaru's blood, could he just bite his tongue off? No. Without that ritual of his, he didn't need to worry; he couldn't perform the steps required to link their bodies together. Not as he was.

Then again, it wouldn't stop him from going for his jugular.

This was a pain. Both Hidan, and his own need to settle things; to keep it his, like an infectious disease that he couldn't let spread. Had he failed, or, was this another hurdle to grow from? All the hate, and sadness, the terror ... that had all vanished. So he could stare down at the man with a stern, distant expression, one without distress, or too much strain. The weeks building up to this encounter had, however, taken it's toll on him also. Shikamaru was tired. Nightmares upon nightmares putting an unnecessary burden on the shinobi, and the fatigue was definitely visible.

❝ Say I let you out, what's to stop me from taking you straight to the Hokage. I'm sure whatever they decide for you, will be far worse then that hole you're in now. ❞

It's the sensible thing to do. So why isn't that an option he can go along with? Shikamaru's gaze narrows in thought. No, he understands why too well; it was his baggage, and his burden alone. There was no way he'd let word get out, not to Kurenai or her daughter, and not to Ino and Choji. They had to revisit this hardship already, back during the war.

It wasn't dangerous. He wasn't being reckless. Shikamaru had thought of all potential downfalls, but he couldn't see one that he couldn't handle on his own.

❝ You're making the deer restless and trying my patience. If you're planning on acting out this revenge of yours, forget it. Even if I drag you out of that hole, you're still a dead man walking. ❞

Asuma sensei, and father too ... give him strength.

He needs something to release this tension, and his hand instantly twitches to his lighter pocket. Such a pain.