He stood in the centre of what seemed to be nothing. It could have been that his eyes were closed but rest assured, they were open with his pupils shivering from the cold and fear. A dim light bulb hovered over his head and slowly swayed back and forth, mimicking a hypnotising pendulum swing. With a small look at his hands and chest, he realised that he wore his usual attire and his hair was still shot up in a ponytail that defied gravity. He touched his face, neck and arms to check for anything that might have given him an indication of what happened to him. However, he was clear from cuts and bruises and had not flinched in pain from slightly moving his body; he hadn't encountered physical harm.

To put it simply, nothing had happened to him.

Nothing.

A small step forward led him to discover something quite peculiar. To his left, there were no windows and doors and this was the same for his right. Looking over his shoulder, he realised the dirty red brick wall behind him was bare and was absent from access to the outside.

Shikamaru stood in the centre of a darkened room with no escape.

'Where am I? Why am I here?'

He questioned in his mind, fear that speaking out loud may be unwise. Even so, who would hear him? How would they enter the room? How did he enter the room? Could it be that he was placed in here and the doors and windows were removed quickly?

No. That can't be! It seemed ridiculous for such thing to happen.

Yet, that didn't mean it wouldn't happen.

Doubt and fear began to cloud his judgement, he could agonisingly feel the vibrations that echoed throughout his body as his heart rate increased. All of his senses picked up the same thing. Shikamaru hadn't realised it was possible to smell purely nothing, feel nothing but his heart, and hear absolutely nothing but his breathing elevate. What his senses picked up were either blank or his anxiety that was embedded in his chakra. As the situation did not unravel itself, frustration was next to invade his mind.

He wanted to get out of this place and quickly at that. But how? How could he leave such place?

"Where am I?"
A thought escaped his lips, only for silence to follow. The young ninja looked around him in hopes of seeing something emerge. It wouldn't have mattered if it was an enemy because it was better than nothing at this rate, anything was.

"Shikamaru."
His prayers were answered with a soft voice snapping him from his anxiety. He darted his head around him in circles to search for the source of the voice. It sounded familiar but he would need to hear the voice again to know who it was.

"Who's there? Where are you?!"
A sweat drop began to descend down his right temple. Sharp turns from his eyes, head and body only saw the same carbon copy of each of the 4 walls. Trapped in a brick box, he would have thought each wall had an unique aspect - he was wrong.

"Shikamaru...wake up."

He felt somewhat insulted by the voice, given that he was in a difficult situation without knowing why he was there and yet the voice simply demanded him to 'wake up'? His anger only rose as his hands naturally formed a fist and his jaw began to tighten.

"What do you mean 'wake up'? Who are you, you didn't answer my question!"

Suddenly the light above him began to flicker and the same soft voice echoed in the room. His nails dug into his palm so hard that he finally felt something aside from his beating heart - the smooth trickle of blood into his hands. Eyes up, the light was about to give out at any second. Yet the voice's echo began to get louder and louder, soon leaving the shinobi to fall to his knees and scream as he covered his ears. Such soft voice was surrounded by a venomous atmosphere and wouldn't seem to stop.

"Shikamaru..."

The light died.

"Wake up."

Shot up and breathing heavily, his eyes opened. He grabbed what seemed to be bed sheets that were beside him and felt the uncomfortable sweat in his back and face. This time, his ears could pick up the sounds of birds chirping melodies and the sound of laughter and idle chat far from him. He could smell the local food nearby him that would undeniably attract vast customers from all over the land, not just to those in his neighbourhood. The tension in his face and body began to relax upon realising that everything was normal, with the grip on his bed sheets softening.

With a heavy breath, he stared at a wall with a wardrobe and desk. Such desk had pictures of his beloved friends and his most loyal teacher, followed by a stack of paperwork that seemed to be completed as indicated by the pen that rested on top. On the edge of the desk sat a tea cup with more pens surrounding it. A microscopic movement from his eye to the right saw his brown door slightly opened to let in the air from the upcoming Summer season. The white walls were surrounded by more pictures of the young shinobi with his parents and friends, and there was a small table in the corner of the room that supported the weight of kunai's. The room seemed to be normal and not a trace of it changed since he last entered the room.

It was just a dream.

So why did it seem real?

A thought sparked in him as he brought his hand to his face, more specifically his palm. There was no sign of physical injury despite the realistic feeling of his blood trickling his hands and the voice was so painfully familiar it aggravated him not knowing who it was.

The confusion only seemed to make him become even more uneasy and confused. But this feeling was put short by the sound of his alarm deafening him.

6 o'clock. Right. He had to get the paperwork to the Hokage for the Shinobi Union reports. There was no time to feel worried over a stupid dream, these sort of dreams only happen once anyway. It was just a bad night and he would get over it by the end of the day.

"You look uneasy. Is everything alright?"

Kakashi's right eye pondered to Shikamaru whereas the other was covered by his enormous Hokage hat. It seemed that deep inside the young shinobi's eye, it was full of mist, attempting seeking clarity from what was real and what wasn't. The confusion in his eyes hadn't left as he turned his attention towards Kakashi, with his eyebrows slightly elevated.

"Ah, it's nothing really."

"You sure?"

Kakashi's second question put Shikamaru off guard. Nevertheless, he replied.

"I'm sure. I just wanted to give you the paperwork and get back to work really."
Lying through his teeth, he envied those who had the opportunity to look at clouds whilst he was stuck inside completing endless amount of paperwork. Despite his lies, Kakashi became increasingly concerned.

"Take it easy Shikamaru, I understand your job isn't necessarily the easiest."
Looking over to a bigger stack of paperwork on his desk, Kakashi felt a huge sweat drop on the back of his head. He hadn't started filling out forms and was not looking forward to.

'Although being Hokage isn't exactly fun and easy either.'

A shrug seemed like an appropriate response to Kakashi. Walking towards the door he turned around and smiled.

"Thanks for the concern anyway."

Closing the door, Kakashi's stern expression hadn't left him. There was no doubt that Shikamaru had a problem and simply ignoring it would worsen his situation. Resting his chin on his hands and closing his eyes, he thought of how to approach the situation, or rather who could approach the situation. After a moment of thought, he reached into his desk and retrieved a small piece of paper. He ran through the names on his contact list until an index finger rested above one name.

"Ah, this person will do."

A/N: First legitimate story and I have no idea where this will end up going so I'm sorry if things seem unclear.

Thank you very much for reading x