Shikamaru slowly walked into the house and let out sigh. He was tired and just wanted to go straight to bed, but knew he had to work on the enormous amount of paperwork he brought home with him.

As soon as he took his shoes off and placed them neatly with the others, he heard quick footsteps coming toward him.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Shikamaru smiled when he saw his three-year-old son running down the hall with a big grin on his face.

Shikadai plowed into Shikamaru so hard they both almost fell over, but Shikamaru managed to keep his balance and kept both of them from falling.

"Shikadai, you know you're not suppose to run in the house," Shikamaru said as he pulled away from the hug and looked down at his son.

"Sorry, Daddy," Shikadai said sadly.

Shikamaru smiled. "Just don't do it again, ok?" he said as he grabbed Shikadai and stood up.

"Ok," Shikadai said happily.

Temari smiled as she walked toward the two, but saw the look of exhaustion on Shikamaru's face.

"Long day?" she asked as she pulled away from the quick kiss. They both started walking toward the living room.

"You have no idea," Shikamaru replied, letting the exhaustion show through in his voice. "There was so much paperwork, that we didn't get through it all. Honestly, why in the world would Naruto want to be Hokage? It's way to troublesome, and he's as bored as me when it comes to all the paperwork."

They stopped when they reached the living room door, and Shikamaru handed Shikadai to Temari.

"So I take it you'll be working most of the night," she stated more than asked as she took Shikadai into her arms.

"Yeah. It's a major drag, but I have no choice," Shikamaru answered then turned and began heading toward his home office.

"Daddy, play?" Shikdai asked sadly as he watched his father walk down the hall.

Temari looked sadly at her son. "Daddy has some work to do, but I'll play with you."

Shikadai still didn't smile, but looked up at his mother. "Ok, Mommy."

Temari smiled, kissed Shikadai's forehead, and then walked into the living room.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Shikadai slowly walked up to the slightly open door of his father's office, trying to be quiet, and peeked through the crack. He saw his father writing on something and smiled. He then carefully opened the door, and slipped into the room. His father hadn't noticed him yet, and his smile got even wider as he started walking over to him.

Shikamaru felt two hands on his leg and looked down to see his son standing there with a big grin on his face.

"I a ninja!" Shikadai said happily, and then began climbing up into his father's lap.

'Wow, so busy I didn't even notice him come in,' Shikamaru thought then sighed.

Shikadai was having a bit of trouble getting up onto Shikamaru's lap, so Shikamaru helped him by pulling him up.

"Yes, you're going to be a great ninja when you grow up," Shikamaru replied with a smile.

Shikadai just smiled wider at his father's words, then looked at the cigarette in Shikamaru's mouth.

Shikamaru looked back at his desk with the dozens of papers spread across it and frowned again. He then started writing on one of them again, not paying attention to what Shikadai was looking at.

Shikadai carefully reached up to his father's face and tried to grab the cigarette from Shikamaru's lips.

Shikamaru immediately grabbed Shikadai's wrist and looked at him unhappily.

"Shikadai, no," he said sternly. "That's not for you to play with."

Shikadai frowned and tried to get his wrist out of his father's grasp. Shikamaru just pushed Shikadai's hand away from his face, then let go and went back to his papers.

Shikadai looked up at his father a little angry then tried to grab the cigarette again.

Shikamaru again grabbed Shikadai's wrist and looked down at his son more aggravated.

"Shikadai, I said no."

Shikadai scrunched up his face and then tried to grab the cigarette with his other hand, but Shikamaru just grabbed that one too.

"Troublesome kid," Shikamaru said annoyed. "Temari! Help me."

NNNNNNNNNN

"Temari! Help me," Temari heard her husband's frustrated yell.

"Oh what is it this time?" she asked herself as she covered the food she was cooking on the stove, then turned and walked toward the office.

When she got to the office and opened the door, she saw Shikamaru struggling with Shikadai to keep him away from his face.

"What in the world are you doing?" she asked loudly as she walked over and grabbed Shikadai. Shikadai just struggled to get out of his mother's arms.

"The troublesome kid just came in here and started bothering me," Shikamaru replied matching Temari's tone, completely avoiding the fact that Shikadai was trying to grab his cigarette.

"Well that troublesome kid just wanted to spend some time with you! You've been working so much you haven't spent any time with him!" Temari yelled.

"Well I'm sorry!" Shikamaru yelled back. "I'm sorry that I'm just trying to do my job and provide for you two!"

Shikadai stopped struggling and sank into his mother's arms when they started yelling and just looked between the two.

"Your job should stay at the office! You should be ready to spend time with your family when you get home, not completely ignore us just to get your stupid paperwork done!" Temari continued.

"Tch. Troublesome woman," Shikamaru said as he turned back and began focusing on his papers again.

Temari yelled out in frustration, turned and walked toward the door, and then slammed the door as hard as she could when she walked out.

NNNNNNNNNNN

A few days later, Shikamaru walked into the kitchen and saw his wife washing dishes at the sink. He then looked over to the fridge and walked over to it. He opened the freezer and pulled out a brand new pack of cigarettes, opened the box, pulled out a cigarette and his lighter, and started to light it up.

"Light that thing up in my kitchen and I'll knock you into next Tuesday," Temari said dangerously not even turning around.

"Tch. Troublesome woman," Shikamaru said, but put the cigarette and lighter away and walked out of the kitchen.

"Daddy, play?" Shikadai asked as Shikamaru walked out of the kitchen.

Shikamaru smiled. "Yeah, kiddo, let's go play."

Shikadai cheered in delight, jumping up and down, and ran toward the living room. Shikamaru just laughed and followed him.

When he got to the living room, Shikadai was already playing with some blocks in the corner of the room. He walked past the coffee table, sat the pack of cigarettes on it, walked over and sat down, and began helping Shikadai build his tower.

About an hour later, Shikamaru ruffled Shikadai's hair, then got up and started walking out of the room.

"Daddy?" Shikadai asked disappointed that his father was leaving.

"Sorry, kiddo. I got to get back to my paperwork," Shikamaru said then walked out of the room.

Shikadai frowned and was about to cry, but then saw the cigarette pack on the coffee table and smiled.

NNNNNNNNNNN

Shikamaru was getting frustrated with the paper work he was working on and leaned back in his chair and sighed. He then reached in his pocket to grab the cigarette pack, but noticed it wasn't there. He started shuffling the papers around to look for it, but couldn't find it.

He then got up and walked toward the kitchen.

"Temari, did you see where I put my cigarettes?" he asked as he walked in.

Temari looked up at him from the cookbook she was looking at. "No, why would I know?"

Shikamaru sighed and went back to his office thinking maybe he just missed them.

Temari rolled her eyes then got up and walked toward the living room to check on Shikadai.

When she walked in, her eyes got wide. Shikadai was sitting there holding a cigarette in his hand and something all over his face. Temari rushed over to Shikadai and grabbed the cigarette from him.

"Hey," Shikadai protested.

"Shikadai, these are dangerous," Temari said sternly. She then picked up the cigarette pack and saw that it was half empty. Her heart started to beat rapidly as she looked back at Shikadai and realized that what was all over his face was pieces of tobacco from the cigarettes, and she knew, Shikadai had been eating the cigarettes.

"Shikadai, did you eat these?" she asked franticly but calmly.

"I like Daddy!" Shikadai replied loudly with a big grin.

"Shikamaru, get in here now!" Temari yelled unable to move.

Shikamaru arrived in the doorway and saw the scene. "What's wrong?"

Temari looked over at him and raised the cigarette pack. "Tell me you smoked half of this pack already."

Shikamaru frowned. "That's the new pack I got out earlier," he said as he walked over to them.

"It's half gone," Temari said scared.

"What?" Shikamaru grabbed the pack from Temari and looked in side, his eyes widening as he looked down at his son.

Shikadai was now frowning. "Mommy, I no feel good."

"We have to get him to the hospital," Temari said as she picked Shikadai up.

Shikamaru stuffed the pack of cigarettes in his pocket then grabbed Shikadai from Temari. They both then rushed out of the house and ran to the hospital.

As they ran, Shikadai began to shake. "Daddy, not feel good."

Before Shikamaru could reply, Shikadai started puking. Shikamaru quickly twisted Shikadai in his arms so that the vomit wouldn't choke his son, but after Shikadai finished puking, he started to shake violently.

"He's having a seizure!" Shikamaru cried out.

"What?!" Temari asked as she got closer to them. "Grab his tounge so he doesn't swallow it."

Shikamaru opened Shikadai's mouth and grabbed his tounge. Tears were starting to well up in Shikamaru's eyes. 'I'm so sorry.'

NNNNNNNNNNN

Sakura was at the main desk, looking at a few papers, when Shikamaru and Temari burst through the doors. She saw Shikadai passed out in Shikamaru's hands and quickly walked over to them.

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she began examining Shikadai.

"Shikadai got ahold of my cigarettes and ate half the box," Shikamaru explained.

Sakura's eyes went wide. "What? When?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "I don't know, but on the way here he got sick, had a seizure, then passed out. He's hardly breathing."

Sakura grabbed Shikadai out of Shikamaru's arms and started quickly walking to one of the rooms, shouting orders to near by nurses. When she saw Shikamaru and Temari trying to follow, she turned to them. "You two have to stay out here until we can stabilize him." She didn't wait for a reply as she walked in a room and the door closed behind her.

Temari grabbed onto Shikamaru, who wrapped his arm around her, and started crying into his chest.

Shikamaru just stared at the door Sakura went through. 'Please, don't let him die.'

NNNNNNNNNNNN

It was about an hour later when Sakura walked out of the room and toward the waiting room where Shikamaru and Temari were.

Shikamaru stood up when he saw Sakura enter the room, but waited for her to reach him. Temari did the same.

"We managed to stabilize him, but he's not completely out of the woods yet," Sakura began. "We are pumping his stomach to try and get all the chemicals out. He's also slipped into a coma." She then looked toward Shikamaru. "How did this happen?"

"I..." Shikamaru began, "I got a new pack out of the freezer, and when Shikadai asked me to go play with him, I guess I left it on the coffee table or something and forgot to grab it when I went back to work on my paperwork."

Sakura sighed. "You two are extremely lucky to have gotten him here so quickly. If you hadn't, he might have died."

Both Shikamaru and Temari's eyes went wide, and Temari's tears started flowing again. "I told you not to smoke those stupid things!" Temari yelled at Shikamaru. "Now because of you, our son almost died!" She then put her hands over her face and sat down, crying harder.

Sakura sat down next to Temari and tried to comfort her.

"Can we see him?" Shikamaru asked.

Temari looked up at him then to Sakura, waiting for her answer.

"Sure," Sakura replied. She then led both of them to the room where Shikadai was.

When they walked in, they saw Shikadai lying in the bed, IVs in his arms, and a tube sticking out of his mouth. Temari lost it again and quickly walked over to him and grabbed his hand.

"He... He's going to be ok, right?" Shikamaru asked unable to move from the spot he was in.

"He had a severe case of nicotine poisoning. He consumed tar, formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and several other things that are very dangerous to ingest. It'll be touch and go until he wakes up, but I think you got him here fast enough. He should be fine," Sakura replied.

Shikamaru squeezed his eyes shut, then turned and began to walk out the door.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked.

"I need some air," Shikamaru replied quietly, then walked out the door.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Shikamaru sat outside for two hours, just staring at the clouds in the sky. His face was tear stricken from the crying he had done, but now his face was just blank.

'How could I have been so stupid?' he asked himself. 'Why did I leave the pack in the living room where he could get to them?'

He unconsciously pulled the cigarette pack out of his pocket, pulled one out, along with his lighter, and brought the flame almost to the cigarette before he stopped. He sat there for a minute before he lowered the lighter, pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, and then just stared at the cigarette.

'This stupid thing,' he thought getting angry. 'This is the reason Shikadai is laying in the hospital in a coma.'

He crushed the cigarette in his hand then tossed it away from him. He looked down at the pack of cigarettes lying next to him and just picked them up and crushed the whole box. He then closed his eyes and tears started running down his cheeks again.

Sakura stood at the door and just watched the whole scene. When she saw him close his eyes, she walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Shikamaru quickly opened his eyes and looked toward the person touching him. "Sakura," he said as he wiped his eyes and stood up. "Is he..."

"He's fine. He woke up a few minutes ago. His vitals are good and I believe we got all the chemicals out of his stomach, but there were a few stomach cysts that began to form." Sakura saw the panic in Shikamaru's face and quickly continued, "but they're not life-threatening."

Shikamaru sighed in relief. "What will happen to him?"

"The most it will do will give him heartburn. I'm afraid there's no way to get rid of them, but at least it won't kill him," Sakura replied.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and the tears ran down his cheeks again. "I swear, I'll never light up another one of those things again."

Sakura put a hand on his back to comfort him. "Come on, he's asking for you."

Shikamaru looked at her. "Thank you, Sakura."

Sakura smiled then led him back to Shikadai's room.

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There you go. I hope you enjoyed it. Leave a comment below and tell me what you think.

Thanks for reading :D