Chapter Text
Shikamaru thought his life had been going pretty alright since the fourth Shinobi War had ended. Truly.
Naruto already told him that when Kakashi gives up the hat that he would steal Shikamaru as his advisor. He started dating Temari pretty soon after the war ended and now a year later they were already married and they recently found out they were expecting a child.
They don’t know the gender of the baby yet. But following the Nara tradition it will most likely be a boy. Shikamaru had already thought of a name for his son.
Shikadai.
The name follows the tradition of how men are named in the Nara Clan.
And while it sometimes may not seem like it, he truly did love Temari even when she was a troublesome woman.
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It was supposed to be like any other mission. He had left without even saying goodbye to anyone. He didn’t expect that he would never see any of the people he cares about again.
And now where did that lead him? What was supposed to be just a small mission delivering some documents turned into what will be his grave.
He wasn’t granted a “heroic death” or even a quick or painful one. Just slow.
Very slow.
It feels like he has been bleeding out for an eternity, just laying there and waiting for the inevitable. Waiting for the dark on the edge of his vision to wholly consume him. Waiting. This was it. This is how he is going to die. He feels numb as the blood trickles out of his body ever so slowly. How had this even happened? Shikamaru wasn’t a jonin and the Hokage’s advisor for nothing. His memory felt foggy. It felt like his whole mind was being disturbed by one of those big clouds he loved to watch too much on his lazy days, which was almost every day. Thinking hurt.
Only after what feels like an eternity of bleeding out does Shikamaru truly grasp that he is about to die. He will die. He always thought he would die surrounded by others. Not alone…not like this. He never said goodbye. He had a wife, damn it! He was going to be a father.
It dawns on him that he will never meet his son. He will never get to hold him in his hands. Give him the name “Shikadai”. Teach his Shogi. Show him all the tricks of how to be lazy and get out of chores. He will never get to see him. He will never get to see him grow older and hit all those different milestones. He will never see him walk. Never hear him speak. He will never be able to continue the tradition of teaching the shadow technique. His son will grow up without a father and Temari will become a widow after being married for less than a year. He will never get to see Naruto become Hokage. He will never be his advisor. He will never see Ino or Choji again.
There is still so much he needs to do.
So much he still needs to say and experience.
He realizes.
“I don’t want to die.”
Not yet.
But there was no one to hear his last words of desperation.
He feels a sharp pain before the dark consumes him.
All the pain leaves him and he feels light.
Perhaps, he thinks, he will see his father again.
Then he feels his very soul being violently ripped downwards. It hurts.
Everything is bright and loud.
“Oh god, oh god, my baby…my baby”
He hears the voice of a woman.
Shikamaru wouldn’t realize it until a few hours later, but he had just taken over the stillborn body of one Spencer Reid. Who in one universe might have survived the birth and lived a long life. But this isn’t that universe.
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It took a while until Shikamaru accepted his fate. Accepted that his life as Shikamaru Nara was done. That all the things he hadn’t done will be lost. Because he quickly realized he was either reborn in the far far future where Shinobi didn’t exist anymore or was born in a completely different universe. He guessed the latter was more likely, seeing as he wasn’t able to feel any chakra. He tries to ignore the implications of this. He also tries to ignore that he was dead to his family and friends. And that essentially so were they to him. He won’t ever see them again. He will never meet his son. He will never see Temari, Naruto, Ino, Choji or even the sixth Hokage anymore. At least being an infant gave him time to mourn before having to do anything.
Also, being a baby sucked. A lot. It was embarrassing that he had little to no control over his body. Especially when it came to bodily functions, which is exactly why he is currently wearing a diaper. And having to drink from a woman’s breast is also not fun, thankfully he had convinced his new mother that he was an avid bottle drinker. Not being able to walk or even turn around also did not help. And he guesses that the brain he inhabited was definitely still that of an infant. Small emotions he felt made his body act out way more. When he was mildly hungry or uncomfortable his body would immediately start bawling its eyes out.
After a few days in his body he had learned a few things; his name was now Spencer Reid (he had never heard a name like this…it sounded foreign), his mother’s name was Diana Reid and she was a school teacher, Diana seemed to be a doting mother, his father’s name is William Reid and he works as a lawyer, William is much more strict, this world was much much more modern and technologically advanced than Konoha had been, even after all their achievements. And finally, this world was really fucking big.