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Chrysanthemum	By : AWickedMemory Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1189 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Title: Chrysanthemum

Author: D.A. Maxwell

Chapter: 03

A/N:

     I have no idea how somebody graduates from chuunin to jounin. XD So I'm going to fib on that entirely. Not that it's in this chapter anyway, except as a passing mention.

     I also have no idea if one Byakugan user can sense when another uses it. :D So please, enlighten me. I may or may not change it in the story, but good to know.

     Story dedicated to Aini for writing "The Way Things Are" (http://naruto.adult-fanfiction.org/story.php?no=600095419&chapter=1).

Reviews:

     Travellyr: Hugs and kisses for being my first reviewer! *glomp*mwah*

     pen_name: Oh my GOD! You have *no* idea how much I love you! "The Unspoken Rules" was the very first fanfic on AFF.net that I ever stumbled across, before I had an account here, and I just about died. Maybe from lack of sleep, seeing as how I ended up staying up all night to read that, and the sequel, and had to go to work the next day. I have sooo much love for you. ♥ But relevant things first, according to my current plans, their o-miai won't be until chapter seven. ^^;

--

     Shikamaru left for a mission the next morning, and didn't return for three weeks. The mission itself hadn't been particularly difficult in nature-- a general escort situation for a wealthy family with a cautious mother-- and the worst trouble they'd run into along the way was a caravan of would-be robbers who were quite readily discouraged by Kage Mane and Kage Kubi Shibari no Jutsu. However, as the family he was escorting had a particularly boy-crazy adolescent daughter and a young son whose energy level and tendency for mischief would have given Naruto a run for his ramen, it proved to be far more harrowing than the jounin had expected.
     "Hey, Shikamaru? It's okay if I call you that, right? Do you have a girlfriend?"

     "Nara-san, look at me!"

     "GET DOWN FROM THERE, MISTER! Nara-san, I'm sorry, could you...?"

     "Kids, honey, settle down."

     "Hey, Shika-chan--"

     "... What did you call me?"

     "Oooooh, Mieko-chan's calling Nara-san names!"

     "I did not!"

     "Did too!"

     "You didn't even hear what we were talking about!"

     "All right, quit bickering. Mieko, come here and leave poor Nara-san alone. Masashi! You're going to break your neck!"

     "Shikamaru-chan--"

     "Nara-san."

     Pout. "Do I really have to call you that? You're not that much older than me."

     "You're thirteen."

     "I'm a mature thirteen."

     "HAHAHAHA. You? Mature?"

     "Shut up, baka-Masa! Nara-chan, what kind of girl do you like?"

     "Not your kind."
     "I'm going to maim Tsunade for this goddamn mission," Shikamaru muttered as he headed home with the intention of sleeping for the next two days straight. No grumbling father, no shrieking mother-- moving out was definitely one of the best decisions he'd ever made. Even if it meant doing his own housework, the complete solitude he was able to enjoy in his new apartment was a blessing he intended to indulge in to the fullest.
     Tsunade's mission report could wait.
     --
     The Fates, however, seemed to have other things on their minds.
     It was early evening when the persistent knocking broke through Shikamaru's doze. Grumbling, the weary jounin forced himself from his bed and dragged himself out the open bedroom door, across the main room, and to the source of the knocking. Peering through the eyehole, he frowned in confusion to see Hyuuga Neji standing on the other side, looking around the hall nervously. What the hell...? he wondered as he reached out for the door before abruptly recalling writing down his address for the older man. Well, that's what I get for being nice. Sighing, he unlocked the door and pulled it open.
     "Hey," he greeted, lounging against the doorframe. "Problem?"
     Obviously trying to swallow his pride at the idea of turning to the younger man for assistance, Neji crossed his arms. "I didn't intend to ever take you up on this, but I'm tired of running all over Konoha. Does your offer still stand?"
     Raising an eyebrow, Shikamaru stifled the urge to smirk. Well, well, well-- the Hyuuga prodigy coming to me for help? I don't think I'd mind having him in my debt. "Sure," he replied, stepping back and drawing the door open wider to allow the older man in. He kept his arm on the doorframe, however, forcing Neji to duck under it to enter-- a reminder that it was his home, and he wouldn't go out of his way to be accommodating. Shikamaru moved to close the door.
     And not a moment too soon. Just before the lock could slide into place, he heard a door opening down the hall and somebody's getas click-clacking sharply toward them. Shikamaru curiously reopened the door a crack, listening.
     "Close it before she gets here!" Neji hissed, pushing it shut again and locking it.
     Shikamaru stared at him for a moment before shaking his head and heading for the kitchen to get a drink. "I never figured one of the noble, self-contained Hyuugas to be the paranoid, panicking sort," he commented idly, taking amusement in Neji's irritated twitch. "Another aunt, another o-miai?" He poured two glasses of milk, putting the carton back in the refrigerator and sliding one of the glasses to Neji across the open counter.
     Neji shook his head as he accepted the glass with a murmur of thanks. "A family friend, I think. She came to visit yesterday evening with a photo of her daughter."
     "And?"
     "And what?"
     Sigh. "What was she like?"
     Neji grimaced. "She looked like a spoiled rotten pig," he replied in a flat tone. Shikamaru made a sound that was somewhere between a scoff and a laugh.
     "At least she didn't bring the girl with her," he pointed out, moving over to drop onto the couch that faced the sliding door to the balcony. "I've just spent the last three weeks with a thirteen year old trying to hang off of me every second." Peering over his shoulder at the young man still hovering at the doorway, he smiled wryly. "You can come in, you know."
     "... What the hell kind of mission is that for a jounin?" Neji asked as he hesitantly approached. Watching him, Shikamaru couldn't help but chuckle, and Neji's wary expression instantly turned into a scowl. "What's so funny?"
     Shikamaru shook his head. "You. I'm not going to bite, you know-- you don't have to act like you're walking into a deathtrap." He smirked as Neji settled himself on the far end, waiting until the brunette lifted his glass to take a drink. "So big, bad uncle Hyuuga's hurrying to marry off his brats, then? Wonder what he plans to do with the place when everyone's well-wedded and well-bedded."
     Choking on the milk, Neji began coughing, although he made sure to get a few nasty glares in between. "Thanks," he muttered sarcastically when he could breathe again.
     "You're very welcome," Shikamaru returned, pleased at the reaction. I don't think I'll tell him how easy he is to provoke. Yet.
     After another good, long glare, Neji finally looked around the room. The walls were a light green, although the ceiling was white. To his left was the doorway, behind the couch was the kitchen, and the right led off to the bathroom and bedroom. Aside from the couch, there were two bookshelves against the bedroom wall, and a potted plant sat on the balcony outside-- no doubt placed there by Yoshino rather than Shikamaru himself. In front of them was a dark brown birch coffee table, atop which sat what appeared to be a thick notebook. "What's this...?" He reached out to the notebook, pausing with his hand on the cover. "May I?"
     Shikamaru shrugged indifferently, and Neji set down his own drink to pick the notebook up. The covers were a brownish-gray, although the paper inside had a yellowish hue that gave them an old, worn look. Opening the cover, he found a landscape sketch that was mostly trees and clouds, although a few rooftops and windows were visible near the base of the picture as well. In one such window, a woman was leaning out to beat a blanket against the wall. "What's this from?"
     Shikamaru yawned. "Ask me that again in about twenty minutes."
     Neji gave him an odd look for the cryptic response, but decided to let it go for now-- after all, he was currently in the other man's debt. Instead, he turned the page and came upon a rainy street where a child huddled by a dumpster, a scrawny cat drenched beside it. How depressing, Neji thought, turning the page again, then again, then again.
     Most of the pictures were village scenery, but one about mid-way through made him pause. It was from a higher-up perspective surrounded by leaves, as if the artist had been looking down from the branches of a tree. Just beneath the branches, leaning against the tree trunk, was-- unmistakably-- Hinata. In the distance, barely even on the paper, Naruto was practicing some taijutsu.
     'Did you draw these?' seemed to be a ridiculous question-- why else would they be here?-- so Neji asked instead, "How long have you been drawing? These are really good." The prideful, elitist part of him silently sneered, Is there anything he can't do? but the rest shushed him up quickly. After all, it shouldn't have been a surprise, really. He'd seen the quick diagram years before, on the first mission to retrieve Sasuke from Sound-- a rough, hasty picture that still clearly captured who each figure was, despite the simplicity. It hadn't occurred to him to wonder about it then.
     Shrugging again, Shikamaru got up to put his empty glass in the sink. "That depends on what you mean. The first time a kid picks up a pencil and tries to mimic writing, it's basically drawing, isn't it?"
     "Seriously drawing," Neji corrected, looking up at him with the suspicion that this wouldn't be a question he'd ever get a satisfying answer to.
     "Define 'seriously'."
     "... Practicing with the clear intent to improve."
     "Ah." Seeming satisfied with that definition, Shikamaru returned to lean against the back of the couch, hovering over the brunette as he considered the revised inquiry. "Never started, I guess."
     That wasn't what I was expecting. Neji frowned up at him. "Quit playing games-- you know what I mean."
     Shikamaru smiled lazily down at him. "Actually, no, I really don't. I draw when the mood strikes me, not with any intention to improve. Not everything is about 'getting better'."
     'Not everything is about getting better.' The casually spoken statement struck him hard, and Neji's hand froze midway through turning another page.
     He realized that he'd never looked at anything that way before. For as far back as he could remember, he'd been in competition-- not with Hinata, but with the idea of the main house and all it represented. For that, he'd lived by the mantra of be faster and stronger, think sharper, learn more, never back down. He'd been top of his class at the ninja academy, whereas Shikamaru had nearly flunked out (or so he heard); and yet, who was the chuunin and who was the jounin now? Dammit, Neji had a year on him, but he still hadn't ranked yet, and not for lack of trying.
     Several minutes of silence went by before Neji came ambling out of his thoughts to return to the present. Blinking, he shook his head to clear it before glancing at Shikamaru. In that short time, the taller man had returned to his perch on the couch with his elbow against the armrest, fingers at his temple as he dozed. Suddenly not wanting to be there anymore, Neji put the book down and finished his milk.
     Before he could stand to leave, however, there was a hesitant knock followed by another. Feeling a familiar chakra presence, he cursed under his breath and stood with Shikamaru as the other nin grumbled on his way to the door.
     Shikamaru opened it and stared at Hinata blankly for a moment before stepping aside to let her in. Blushing, she dipped her head in thanks and stepped inside before lifting her gaze to her cousin.
     "N-- Neji-niisan, father, um..."
     "Sent you to come get me," Neji finished with a sigh. She nodded in confirmation. "Do me a favour-- tell him I'll come back when that crazy lady's gone."
     "H... he said that... um... that you'd say that," Hinata stumbled, wincing at being caught in the middle of a confrontation between uncle and nephew. "And, um..." She took a deep breath, steeling her nerves. "He said she's the reason you're to come home, because she'd like to set up an omi--"
     "Out of the question," Neji interrupted, narrowing his eyes. "Looking at her kid's photo makes me feel ill, it's not even worth meeting her."
     "Maybe i-i-it was a bad ph... photo," Hinata suggested, eyes downcast. "I-- I mean, if y-you don't meet with her... um, m-maybe you should, ah... give her a chance?"
     Leaning in just enough to make his cousin go red and back up instinctively, Neji smiled. "Nice philosophy. I guess you should meet up with every guy that anybody suggests, then? Just to 'give them a chance', instead of pining away for your ridiculous childhood crush."
     Blush deepening, Hinata's eyes widened and she stepped back again to stand in the doorframe. "I-- I don't--"
     "Yeah, actually, you do. Everybody but him knows it," Shikamaru drawled. Hinata jumped at the unexpected voice, glancing up at Shikamaru in surprise; the jounin snorted in response. "Yes, I am still here."
     "Oh, I..."
     "You wanna finish this conversation inside? 'Cause my neighbors can get really damn nosy sometimes." Shikamaru gestured for Hinata to come all the way in rather than hovering indecisively, and closed the door behind her. "You need a drink or anything?"
     Hinata shook her head. "N... no, thank you." She looked over at Neji again, who was leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms crossed. "Neji-niisan..."
     "I'm not going back," Neji repeated. "If I have to attend o-miais from time to time, I will, but the less time I have to spend hearing about it in advance, the better."
     "Sh... shall I tell father to... ah... go ahead and arrange it, then?"
     Neji glared at her. "Not this one. Did you see her photo? She looks like the sort of girl who should've been aborted."
     "Nii-san!" Hinata protested in horror as Shikamaru smirked. She put her hands to her flushed cheeks, shaking her head. "That's an awful thing to say!"
     Knock! Knock!
     Not even looking outside this time, Shikamaru opened the door. "Apparently we're having a party today," he remarked in an undelighted tone.
     Naruto grinned at him. "A party? Really?? COOL! I'll go--"
     "No, idiot, I was being facetious."
     "Fa-what now?" Naruto shook his head. "Anyway, I ran into Ino on the way here, and she asked me to give this to you." He shoved a book at Shikamaru, who calmly received it. "But you should totally throw a party! That'd be awesome! Can I come in? I haven't seen your new place yet. I never saw your old place, either, did I? Hey, Neji, what're you doing here? I didn't know you and Shikamaru were friends. Oh, hey, Hinata!" Grin broadening further upon spotting the girl, who blushed and mumbled a greeting back, Naruto entered uninvited to peer questioningly at her. "You okay?"
     "Y-- yes, thank you," Hinata managed, still averting her eyes.
     Stepping over by Shikamaru, Neji muttered under his breath, "This is almost painful."
     "I know," Shikamaru agreed in the same tone before raising his voice. "You done yet?"
     Naruto laughed. "I guess. So there's really no party? Damn!-- sorry, Hina-chan-- and here I was, all hungry, too. Hey, why don't we go for ramen?"
     Shikamaru grimaced. "Sounds great for you. You should go. I'll stay here."
     "Awww, c'mon, Shikamaru!" Naruto insisted. "You'll come, too, won't you? Neji?"
     Neji glowered.
     "Hey, Uzumaki-- I've been home from a pain-in-the-ass mission for less than two hours. I intend to spend the evening in peace and quiet, so don't expect me to go along with whatever trouble you'll get yourself into." Shikamaru gestured pointedly at the door. "You done yet?"
     "Aww," Naruto pouted, "it's no fun to eat by myself! Hina-chan, you wanna come with me? I'll pay!"
     Hinata's eyes widened. Like a... date? "I, uh, I... um..."
     "Great!" Taking her arm, Naruto began to tug her out the door. Hiashi's order was long forgotten as the poor girl's mind blanked, and when Neji reached out to make Naruto let go of his cousin, Shikamaru stopped him. Waiting until they were out the door and down the hall, Shikamaru finally locked them in again. "He's not going to do anything to her, relax."
     Neji turned his irritated look to the taller man. "You just sent her out. On a date. With Naruto," he growled.
     Shikamaru scratched his neck as he yawned, heading for the kitchen again. "Well, it got her off your back, right?"
     "I guess. By the way, it's been twenty minutes," Neji added offhandedly. "Going to tell me what that sketch is from?"
     Sighing, Shikamaru gestured for Neji to follow him as he slipped into his bedroom. Like the living room, it was quite plain: a bed, a nightstand, a door to the closet, and a bookshelf. There was a window on the far wall, however, and it was there that Shikamaru paused. He motioned for Neji to look outside.
     Standing in front of the window, Neji peered out curiously. He saw the building and trees like in the picture, but something was missing. What was it...?
     After a few moments, a window on the adjacent building opened up and a woman leaned out to beat a blanket against the wall. Neji blinked.
     "Like clockwork," Shikamaru smirked. "Anyway, what do you want for dinner?"
     For the rest of the evening, the two cooked-- Shikamaru did, at any rate-- and ate, washed up, read for a while, and went to bed. Shikamaru fetched some extra blankets for Neji, who opted to spread them out on the floor rather than crashing on the couch, then retired to his own room. Noticing that he left the door open, Neji wondered if it was because he was there-- then decided that it really didn't matter. Crawling under the covers, he closed his eyes.
     Within minutes, he was fast asleep.
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Chrysanthemum