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Break to Breathe	By : Okami-Rayne Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male > Shikamaru/Neji Views: 1958 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: NARUTO and its respective characters were created and are owned by Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended. I make no money from this story.

Chapter List
- 47
- 48
- 49
BREAK TO BREATHE

by Okami Rayne

Chapter Forty Eight

[Dedicated to Ayachan]

"He?"
Funny, how one stupid pronoun could hit with the same bone-jarring force as the shinobi it pertained to. And just as violently as he'd been floored by Neji in the forest, suddenly Shikamaru felt like he'd lost his footing completely.
He fell back a step.
Instinctively, his gaze dropped to the ground. He stared at the grass, at the inverted trail his feet had made in the moonlit dew. The flattened blades plastered to the earth, crushed underfoot.
"Shikamaru…"
"Don't ask me that…" he rasped, squeezing the words around the hot ball lodged in his throat. "Don't."
A weighted pause pulled heavy on the air, in no way lightened by the fact that he could sense Asuma's eyes fixed on him, searching his expression. Shikamaru inched back a pace. God, what the hell had malfunctioned in his head? He'd just plunged into the deep end. Head first.
"Why?" Asuma pressed gently, cautiously, like a medic prodding around an open wound.
"Not that."
"Shikamaru…"
"Not that…" the shadow-nin echoed, his stare about as vacuous as his reply.
He couldn't shake the panic locked around his brain. But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. If he was on a mental ledge, at least the panic had a grip on him; a big, fat mental fist of self-preservation.
He didn't hear Asuma move.
He didn't even register the Jōnin had begun to close distance until the quiet rumble of his voice reached across first. "Just give me a name."
Shikamaru shook his head, his brows pulling together in a tight knit.
Asuma stopped a few paces away, cigarette held between thumb and forefinger, chin tucked down, watching from beneath the hood of a heavy frown. A deep concern etched itself into the corner of his eyes.
"Then tell me why you can't, Shikamaru."
The shadow-nin pressed his lips together and said nothing, but the truth was gnawing through him, in the grind of his jaw and the sheen in his eyes. These weren't reactions he'd have allowed to come through with his logic. But his logic was currently about as useful as his ability to turn tail and run.
There was nowhere left to go.
His eyes widened, his spine straightening as if he'd been shoved up against a wall.
The truth was like a blade, slitting the locked tendons in his throat.
"Shikamaru…"
"It's the one thing…" The words bled out of him before he could stop them.
Asuma cocked his head. "What?"
"The one thing I don't have to figure out…" Shikamaru swallowed tightly, but the words seeped out all the same. "Don't ask me to figure it out."
"You're not making sense."
"What if that's why I needed it? Because it didn't make sense…"
"What didn't make sense…?" Asuma asked, cigarette forgotten, crushed beneath his foot as he stepped forward again. "Tell me what 'it' is."
It. Neji. What had happened between them. All of it. There was still no defining what it was. No lines. No categories. No explanation. It was indistinct. It defied logic, containment and definition.
And that's why…
"I wanted it…" Shikamaru said, the wide spheres of his eyes beginning to tighten at the corners. "I wanted it…separate…"
Because he could turn what had happened between him and Neji around in his mind as much as he wanted, but the pieces weren't in his head. They were somewhere in the vicinity of his chest and his gut, scattered apart, pulled roughly from a board that was never a game…just familiar territory he'd never been without until Neji had knocked him off it. He'd been turned upside down, pulled inside out and ripped every which way by this need between them.
He couldn't fix what Neji had done to him and he couldn't work it out.
And I don't want to.
The thought didn't come from his brain.
It wasn't a thought. It wasn't even an excuse or an evasion. It was an impulse.
It was the truth.
A deeply buried truth he didn't know he harboured. A need he didn't know he had. And with his brain shut down, the impulse fired up along circuits that Neji had coursed through like static and fire and blood. It wasn't in his head and he didn't want to bring it there.
I don't want to fix it.
The truth shot up from Shikamaru's gut and cracked into his heart like a fist.
I don't ever want to understand.
He flinched from the blow of his own need and a hoarse breath snagged in his throat.
"I needed it because I couldn't work it out…because I needed not to…"
"Work what out?"
"What I let happen…" Shikamaru muttered without thinking, his glazed eyes straying across the grass in a numb scan.
"Let happen…?" Asuma trailed off slowly, his eyes brightening with a dawning comprehension not yet confirmed. He hedged his next words carefully. "With him…?"
Shikamaru snapped back to himself and clamped his lashes shut with a growl. "Stop asking me…"
He didn't see his sensei's eyes widen, the dark motes in the bronze irises flashing with shock and surprise before softening. "Shikamaru."
Shikamaru's ponytail slashed the air in a sharp shake, fingers snapping into fists.
"Don't ask me," he ground out; and like dust on the air, his voice barely carried.
He had no idea whether or not Asuma had fully heard what was unspoken in the spaces between his broken words. He just hoped to hell that it was enough.
God, let it be enough…I can't give anything more than that…
He felt himself teetering, his mental ledge a small drop in comparison to the precarious edge he felt other parts of himself teetering on as the quiet pushed in around him.
A solid, suffocating, silence…
The soft click of Asuma's lighter broke the spell.
Shikamaru heard the quiet inhale and the drawn out breath that followed. Tobacco swirled like incense, rich and strong, comforting and familiar as it spiralled - but no words were wrapped in its smoke.
His sensei's silence was agony.
And for all the pain he'd taken up until now, this was about as much as he could take; or couldn't take anymore.
I can't…
Then Asuma's hand touched his head.
And the second it did, it collapsed the agony inside him. It collapsed it so suddenly and unexpectedly that Shikamaru shuddered as the weight of the impossible, pent-up pressure came crashing down.
The weight of everything he'd been holding in.
It flooded out between all the breaks, washed over his face in a ripple of pain and scalded thin trails along the ridge of his cheekbones as his head bowed under a pressure heavier than Asuma's gentle grip.
In just moments, days worth of tension released its suffocating hold on him.
His breath broke low and ragged in his throat.
Asuma said nothing, just kept his hand steady.
Eventually, the shuddering beneath his palm settled into a tense tremble. It was only then that he flexed his fingers atop Shikamaru's head, pressing the weight of his next words into his gentle grip.
"I hear you, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru's eyes snapped open.
He stared blankly and for a fleeting second, he went completely still.
Then he made to shake his head and bolt.
He didn't get the chance.
Asuma's fingers tightened, holding him in place, impressing on his skull those three words he was trying to escape.
"Shikamaru…listen to me…"
"Let go, sensei."
"Listen to me."
The shadow-nin stilled, knuckles chalk-white as his fists tightened.
When Asuma spoke again, his voice dropped deeper, his words strengthened by the gentle rock of his wrist that swayed Shikamaru on the spot.
"I hear you."
The same three words delivered in exactly the same tone Asuma had used three years ago during their fifteenth Shogi game. That day, those words had affected Shikamaru deeply enough to end the game and walk away rather than accept that someone had actually acknowledged him. Acknowledged those things he'd never said but needed to have heard.
That was the day that Asuma had understood him for who he was and had accepted him for what he wasn't.
He didn't expect that understanding or acceptance now.
But just like the first time, Asuma offered it unconditionally.
I hear you.
Shikamaru's eyes screwed shut, then flickered open.
Slowly, his fists unfurled, colour rushing back to his white knuckles while the tense lock at his shoulders dropped away. He blinked back the sheen filming his eyes, his vision clearing as his breathing evened out.
Little by little, the ground inched back beneath his feet.
Asuma hummed in query.
Shikamaru drew a slow breath through his nose and nodded under the steady weight of his sensei's hand. It seemed that one slip and a landslide later, nothing more needed to be said. The fractional dip of his head and the light press of Asuma's hand said everything.
It was enough.
The grip of his sensei's hand dropped to his shoulder, squeezing once.
Shikamaru didn't shrug it off.
I hear you.
Funny, how those words from Asuma would always be enough.

Dawn swept like sand across Konoha's sky, its grainy light dusting the clouds in desert hues and falling in beams of powdered gold.
Neji watched the transformation from beneath his lashes and cocked his head back against the tree he'd perched in. He hadn't intended to remain here, but the second he'd seen Gai and Lee handstand-walking their way through an ungodly hour of training, he'd taken to the trees to keep out of sight and out of mind.
Then the sky had begun to turn.
This day, Neji had allowed himself the time to greet the morning rather than focus on rising before it. Leaning back, he tracked the gentle play of colour and light as daybreak stole the last of the stars. It was only after the final diamond vanished that he found himself watching the clouds.
What is it about them?
He frowned, trying to decipher some design that Shikamaru must have found in the wisps and folds of vapour. But the clouds defied fixed interpretation and try as he might, Neji couldn't find anything logical in the arrangement.
Is that why you are drawn to them…?
His eyes traced the fractured gold that laced a feathery wisp. Like a bird's wing. And that wing of cloud would sail on and change form; it would break apart and the wind would breathe it into something different.
Is that what has happened to me?
Everything had blown apart, after all. His image of his clan, his image of himself, his sense of control over his destiny…all of it lay before him in irreparable fragments.
Where do I go from here?
Neji blinked slowly, straightening up against the tree, shoulders canted back against the sturdy trunk. A knot in the bark dug into his shoulder blade, forcing him to angle for a better position. Shifting, he felt the knot graze along his back.
A memory flashed forward.
Teeth scraping along the sensitive vertebrae of his spine…
The gentle play of Shikamaru's breath across the scars there…
Neji pulled away from the tree, vaulting neatly over the bough to touch down into a smooth walk, the grass streaking dew across his sandals as he wove a path through the soft swish of foliage. The thin blades dragged across the clean white of his robes, a damp, welcome rustle as he followed the path that Shikamaru had led him down when he'd been drunk.
Gods, never again…
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, gone in a whisper as his breath misted away. While his memory of that night was foggy at best, flashes of clarity broke through the haze; one memory more shocking to him than it had probably been to Shikamaru at the time.
The sound of laughter.
His own laughter…
Completely unexpected and uninhibited; an unpractised sound he seldom let slip or even knew he had inside him. But it had rolled out of him that night in deep waves and rich flurries, natural as the tide.
Neji shook his head to dislodge the fractured memory. He slotted it away with the countless others he kept somewhere a little less distinct than the back of his mind. The memories didn't seem to belong there. So instead, he pushed them down somewhere deep in his chest.
It made sense to keep them there, blocking up the sadness.
Strange, it wasn't so different to what he'd done with the chakra blocks.
It seemed to be a pattern he kept repeating, although this was less self-destructive by a long shot. All the same, those knifing stabs of pain were now replaced by an ache he couldn't will away.
I let you in…and now I cannot get you out…
Neji blinked slowly, his pace lulling to a slow as he neared the borders of the Nara forest. It was on the outskirts that he stopped, planting his feet even as the breeze whipped at his back, pulling his hair over his shoulder and tugging playfully at his robes like some childish temptation trying to draw him into forbidden territory.
Another weak smile tugged mirthlessly at his lips.
Haven't I had enough sorrow to last me a lifetime…?
And yet a lifetime without having known the sorrow he held now would have been a lifetime half-lived in many ways. What had happened between him and Shikamaru had happened too intensely, too intimately, too irrationally and impossibly.
And it had broken him in the end.
I knew it would…
He'd known the moment he'd given over that control.
But he'd done it, against sense and self-preservation.
And now he was left with pieces of himself and no understanding of how to put himself back together. Or at least back into a form that made sense. The pieces didn't fit. Maybe he'd never been whole to begin with. In the chaos of what had happened with Shikamaru he'd been lost and found, damned and saved, imprisoned and freed all at the same time.
Neji drew his head back, gazing deep into the mists that cloaked the forest's borders.
Yes, he was in pieces.
But for the first time in God knew how long, he felt as though he could breathe again.
His control had shattered, but so had the cage he'd constructed in his chest. Perhaps it had been natural to protect himself that way. Kami, he'd lived in cages all his life, the fact that he'd created another one in an attempt to defend himself long enough to free himself should have come as no surprise.
Ironic, how he'd been imprisoned by his need for freedom.
He hadn't expected Shikamaru to see that cage, much less slip between the bars and break it from the inside.
Did I need him to? Gods, what does that make me if not weak?
The answer came in a heartbeat.
A heartbeat - and a flash of sharp eyes and a lazy smile.
Human.

The canvas had held.
The oilskin tenting remained taut and secure over the bird's hut. It had taken a beating in the storm but fortunately the pegs Shikamaru had hammered it down with hadn't dislodged.
"Ugh…now…would be…the time…" the shadow-nin growled between tugs, pulling on the wet stakes, trying to undo his efforts without suffering splinters in the process.
Ripping the last peg free, he tugged aside the canvas with a crackle and rustle, trying to keep the noise to a minimum. The last thing he needed right now was to have his face clawed off by a disgruntled bird.
Shit…let it be off the ground…
Sliding back the bolt, he nudged the door open slowly, scowling at the loud creak of the wood. The returning squawk alerted him to movement across the pen, drawing his eye to one of the driftwood logs he'd dragged in.
From the safety of its wooden perch, the bird eyed him warily.
Almost off the ground.
Shikamaru cocked his hip against the doorframe, watching the animal for a moment as if trying to gauge its intentions solely by the way those golden eyes observed him, keen and clear in their sharp stare.
The stalemate lasted no more than a few moments before Shikamaru made a move.
The shadow-nin swayed forward in a feint.
The bird cocked its head but made no agitated effort in response. If anything, the falcon seemed to adjust itself more comfortably on its perch. Shikamaru didn't wait for another signal. He took the opportunity to ease into the pen and go about checking the food, shrugging his shoulder bag to the crook of his arm.
"Troublesome bird." He crouched down beside the water tray, his eyes straying to the minced food he'd laid out before. "But better than nothing."
Half of the contents had been consumed, but the medicinal pellets he'd slipped into the pulp had been expertly pecked out and cast aside. Shikamaru breathed a sigh through his nose, a reluctant smirk twitching at his lips.
As troublesome as the bird was, it sure as hell wasn't stupid.
Shikamaru flicked a glance up at the falcon. "You're still a pain in the ass."
The bird ceased its preening and cocked its head back towards him, squawking in what could have been offence before it hobbled along its perch and teetered on the edge of the log, body bowed forward in preparation for flight.
Shit.
Shikamaru tensed, ready to spring.
The bird see-sawed on the edge for a moment, then simply hopped down to ground level and nestled in the hay at the base of the log, turning small rotations to structure some semblance of a nest.
Shikamaru relaxed and watched it quietly for a moment, debating whether or not naming the troublesome animal was too much hassle. The last thing he wanted was to be in any way attached to this bird outside of getting it better and getting it gone.
Yeah, doesn't that sound familiar…?
Shaking his head against the thought, he went about laying out fresh food and water, focusing on the task to keep his mind from veering into that dangerous zone. True to clockwork, he'd been up at 4 AM and had spent the past couple of hours checking up on the deer.
The females had been oddly tactile, nipping at his hair and butting him playfully until a boisterous nudge from one doe had hit him in the ribs.
Rikumaru had ushered his harem away with a bellow.
Then the stag had walked Shikamaru to the bird pen; an oddly protective move.
The shadow-nin didn't claim to understand the workings of the herd's minds as well as his father, but the distinct personalities amongst the animals eased that sense of isolation he'd wrapped around himself.
They didn't ask questions and they demanded nothing of him.
Not an excuse to stay holed up.
Not that he intended to.
Even if he'd wanted to, it wasn't an option.
Life didn't put itself on hold for anyone; it trudged on regardless of the precious time it stepped on and the treasured moments it stole away with.
The pace had already begun to pick up and would only gain speed.
Shikamaru sighed, casting the bird a final glance as he scanned the pen and quit the scene, sliding the bolt into place before picking his path back through the forest.
Time to get back on track…
Other than whatever mischief Ino had in the works, he still had to hold up his end of the bargain he'd made with Tsunade; that classified booklet sure as hell wasn't going to predict itself into a pre-emptive game plan. Add to that the whole Nijū Shōtai business and Kotetsu's troublesome questions regarding his involvement.
Such a damn drag…
Which was probably a good sign; it meant normalcy was beginning to creep back in like light chasing back the shadows. While Shikamaru knew how to handle the shadows he withdrew to, he'd welcome a return to normality with the same lazy lack of enthusiasm he showed most things that breezed in and out of his life.
Most things…but not all things…

"Again!"
The deep echo of Neji's voice boomed off the walls of the courtyard, throwing the command around the chakra-charged yard.
The sound of an earth-cracking impact followed.
Dust exploded in a halo, showering grit as Neji hopped out of range, a half-smile barely lacing his lips. His Byakugan eyes scanned the kunoichi crouched in the centre of the courtyard, her palm smacked flat to the ground, deep cracks breaking up the stone from the force of her hit.
Neji nodded sharply. "Again."
Hinata snapped her head up, swishing the length of her blue-black mane as she fisted her shaking fingers and charged him. Neji slid a foot back, angling sideways as he watched her spring high, tucking her fist towards her ribs.
He watched a pulse of flaring blue glove the small ball of her hand.
Hold it…hold it…
Neji waited until she opened her mouth to roar.
Seconds before impact he reacted, throwing his weight back into a one-handed cartwheel and shoving hard to flip sideways instead of back. This time he stayed close enough to observe the exact point of contact when her fist struck the ground.
His feet touched down the moment her palm did.
Hinata clocked his proximity and her eyes flared wide.
He saw her hesitation and the cost was a wobble and backfire of her strike.
The chakra popped shallowly like a bubble around her fist, its strength weakened as her focus wavered. She lost her balance and would have toppled if Neji hadn't smacked his hand out, gripping her shoulder to steady her.
"You hesitate, so it doesn't hold." He frowned. "Why do you hesitate?"
Hinata dragged the back of her wrist across her forehead, panting through the pain she must have been in, betrayed by the tremble at her fingers. "I…"
"Do not hesitate." Neji released her and straightened away. "Your enemy never will."
"But you were…you stood too close…" she said, pushing to her feet, eyes settling on the shallow dip in the ground.
Neji arched a brow, a single stride putting him a pace behind her. "Turn around."
Hinata turned, somewhat hesitantly, only to find that Neji was already behind her again.
"Face me, Hinata-sama."
Hinata whirled, but Neji was a blur on her periphery. He was at her back again in an instant, his deep tones gaining an edge that was deliberately condescending.
"You are going to lose if you cannot face me."
Hinata's fingers twitched but didn't clench.
She whipped about again in the opposite direction, only to find that Neji had pre-empted her move and was already behind her, shoving forward before she could kick back. She staggered and twisted sharply, catching the whip of his hair as he darted around her.
In a spiral of movement they spun like dancers.
Neji kept fixed to her shadow as she struggled to face him and force him to confront her. He didn't. He literally ran a circle around her, turning in sidesteps and shifts so fluid and subtle it was infuriating to watch it all unfold through her narrowed Byakugan eyes.
"You fail because you hesitate," he murmured.
Hinata snapped around, her hair lashing the space he'd been standing in seconds before his voice hit the back of her head. "Come at me with intent to harm me, Hinata-sama."
"I won't," she whispered, leaping back to gain distance only to hit his chest and stumble forward again. "I don't want to harm you."
"Just as you never wish to harm your sister. This is why you continue to lose to her."
Hinata closed her eyes, a pang of hurt pulling her delicate features into a wince before she pivoted with a hiss, the side of her palm lashing out to scythe through the ends of Neji's hair as he put himself back in her shadow.
"You have the strength, but where is your will?"
"I don't want the will to hurt people!" Hinata cried, spinning again.
"Then have the will to protect them," Neji bit back, shoving her hard between the shoulder blades. "Like Naruto."
The words had the intended affect.
Hinata caught herself from stumbling, snapping her shoulders taut as she spun a neat revolution that kicked up dust, her leg sweeping low. Neji flipped back onto his hands then snapped back onto his feet, rocking forward in the same see-saw motion to cage her fist in his palm.
He raised his gaze with a slim twist at his lips.
"Good."
Hinata drew her other fist back, the chakra already flooding to her knuckles as she swung a solid punch towards his jaw, not forgetting to move her feet this time as she prepared to launch, her eyes flashing.
Very good.
Neji slanted his chin, avoiding the strike and tugging her firmly to knock her balance. Hinata regained it instantly by following the movement and ducking under his arm, careening her chakra-laced fist towards the back of his head as she spun on the balls of her feet.
Neji smiled and ducked, hopping back as she leapt high.
This time when her fist struck the ground, the crash of chakra echoed through the compound. Neji didn't give her time to gape at her handiwork. He stepped into her guard and nudged her back a pace with the flat of his palm, twisting his wrist to curve his fingers in a 'bring it' gesture.
"Again!"
Hinata sucked in a breath and tugged both fists towards her ribs, eyes narrowed as focus eclipsed her earlier hesitation, passing tension across her face in a ripple brightened and coloured by the flare at her hands.
Neji started forward then held his ground.
His head jerked back in surprise.
What is that?
For a fleeting moment, it was like something took form in the twin blobs of chakra at Hinata's hands, the deep pulse of vibrant blue deepening into contours that almost looked like cat heads. But then they were gone, drawn into a massive surge of blue-white chakra.
Neji lifted his palm, curving his fingers in a snap. "Good. Hold it. Now, use it."
Hinata charged.
Neji met her half-way, focusing solely on dodging as she wove her fists through the air, pale streams of light trailing after the gloves of chakra encasing her punches.
They moved in a helix, threads of Hinata's chakra crackling around them.
She was panting hard, but her eyes were fierce.
She has made Naruto her strength…did I make you my weakness, Nara…?
Neji snatched a breath, pushing their pace.
It was an impressive, awesome display of speed and stamina.
Mid-rotation, Neji caught the blurred figure of Hiashi observing from the sidelines, stoic and still like living granite. Hinata didn't notice, her focus channelled solely into the beginnings of her new jutsu.
"Hyaah!"
Neji snapped his attention back to her hands as one strike brushed precariously close to his jaw, the lick of chakra like a lash of white flame across his skin.
Good.
He deflected the second hit with the side of his palm and danced back a pace, holding up his hand to end the spar. "Good."
Hinata stopped in a stagger, the jutsu cutting off in a flash and sputter. She wobbled on the spot, her lips pulling into a smile that brightened her eyes like polished quartz. She stared at her trembling hands in amazement.
"I…I did it."
Her legs buckled.
Neji caught her around the waist, supporting her as she dug her heels in. "Yes, you did."
"But it's…it's not complete," Hinata panted, flexing her shaking fingers, her joy instantly overshadowed by her doubt. She curled in on herself a little, frowning.
Neji straightened up sharply, forcing her to do the same.
"You will perfect it," Neji said quietly, flicking his gaze across her shoulder towards Hiashi. "I have no doubt."
The Hyūga Lord raised his chin a notch at the pointed glance, hooding his eyes in an unreadable look. Neji's jaw tightened but he averted his gaze and aided Hinata to the porch, setting her down carefully before taking a broad step back.
"Are you alright?" he asked, brushing his fingertips along his jaw.
Hinata nodded heavily, gripping one of the posts as she leaned into its support, exhausted. A giddy smile fluttered at her lips.
"Thank you, Neji-niisan."
Neji inclined his head to her, then swiftly turned to bow as Hiashi stepped up behind his daughter. Hinata's spine straightened instantly and she went still against the post, breath hitched.
Hiashi wasn't looking at her. "Neji, you have been summoned by the Hokage."
Neji contained his surprise by bowing his head.
The Hokage?
That could only mean one of two things.
Hiashi eyed him for a moment longer and he took note of the way his uncle's gaze narrowed as if trying to read him. Then, unexpectedly, Hiashi glanced down at his daughter.
Sensing his gaze, Hinata stared nervously at the ground, her lips pinched into a thin line, fingernails digging in deep against the chipped wood of the post.
Neji glanced between them cautiously, uncertain whether it was disapproval or discomfort crawling behind the ice in Hiashi's eyes.
The tension didn't get a chance to settle.
"You have done well today, Hinata," Hiashi said, his velvet tones stilted and quiet as he shaped the rare words of praise.
Hinata's eyes squeezed shut. "Thank you, father."
Neji kept his head tipped down, watching through his bangs as the smooth marble of Hiashi's brow furrowed. The Hyūga considered his daughter in silence for a long moment, his gaze lingering on her trembling fingers before he turned away.
"You have done very well," he added, then moved on across the porch.
Neji glanced at his cousin and brushed past her gently, deactivating his dōjutsu just as her tears began to fall.

"Ino, why are you staring at Shikamaru like that?"
"I'm calculating."
Shikamaru, chin set at the edge of his palm, slid his gaze across from the window with a bored droop of his lashes. He set his focus on the scheming blonde currently peering across the table at him, her index finger pressed tightly to her pursed lips, a look of intense concentration on her face.
This can't be good.
Shikamaru scowled and dropped his hand, turning his head toward her. "What?"
Ino gave an irate huff. "Argh! Shikamaru! Don't move!"
Shikamaru stared blankly, then glanced at Chōji.
Chōji shrugged and speared another piece of pork, popping it into his mouth with an appreciative hum. "Don't ask me."
Ino raised her hands, framing the image of Shikamaru's face with her palms before slowly twisting her wrists towards the window. "Turn your head back towards the window. I need to see it."
"See what?"
"Your stupid hair."
Shikamaru ironed his expression into a flat look.
Ino glared back, framing his face again across the table. "Seriously, turn your head."
"Eat your food," Shikamaru shot back, sending a pointed glance at the rapidly disappearing platter as Chōji happily took advantage of his teammate's distraction.
"Turn your head!"
"No."
"Ugh!" Ino twisted in her seat, glancing over the high-backed booth with a strained smile as she chirped sweetly between grit teeth. "Asuma-sensei! Please get Shikamaru to turn his head."
Shikamaru made a face, glancing across as Asuma slid into the booth beside him. "She's harassing me."
Asuma chuckled beneath his breath, the sound shaking loose the tension. "I'm not tag-teaming any of you. I'm just here to pick up the tab."
"Thank you, Asuma-sensei!"Chōji hailed the Jōnin with his chopsticks.
"Well that's tag-teaming Chōji!" Ino accused, stabbing a finger at the Akimichi. "I haven't even put anything in my mouth yet!"
"Do us a favour and go right ahead," Shikamaru muttered, earning himself a dagger glare and an angled kick under the table that missed and hit Asuma instead.
The Jōnin jumped and rubbed his shin with a frown. "And to think I was complimenting your teamwork last night."
Ino folded her arms across her chest with a huff, fluttering the strands of blonde hanging by her face. She shot Shikamaru a withering look. "Well Shikamaru's the one who's not cooperating."
"What the hell do you need to look at my hair for?"
"It's a surprise, genius."
"Tch." Shikamaru rolled his eyes and reached for his drink.
Despite the look Ino pinned him with, his lip quirked behind the rim of the glass as he transferred his attention away from her and across the restaurant.
Around them, the atmosphere hummed with the chatter of customers and the shouts of waiters rushing back and forth between booths. The warm air, occasionally buffeted by a cool breeze when the door swung open, was otherwise redolent with the heavy scents of sizzling hotpot and the strong aroma of coffee.
Beneath all this hung the heavy pall of Asuma's cigarette smoke.
The Sarutobi was the only customer allowed to light up, given that he helped keep the place in business with the rate Chōji went through their pork hotpot.
"What's the pig doing here?" Asuma said.
Chōji and Ino froze, both of them pinning their sensei with a look that dared him to clarify just who he was referring to. Asuma blinked innocently, held up a palm to ward off the glares and signalled towards the window.
Shikamaru was already looking through it. "Ugh…"
Staring up at him through the glass was none other than the Hokage's troublesome pig. Tonton cocked her head up and her snout wrinkled in a way that illustrated perfectly the utter displeasure with which she regarded him.
What do you want?
He squinted over the rim of his glass, as if he could telepathically skewer her by way of a narrow glare.
"Aww, Tonton." Ino tapped the glass with her fingers and waved.
Shikamaru frowned. "Please tell me you have medic training with Shizune."
Ino shook her head. "Not today."
Dammit.
The shadow-nin tapped his brow against the window in a resigned thud, heaving a sigh that misted the glass. "Great."
Tonton ducked her head and stamped a hoof, her tubby body wobbling in a vexed ripple. Shikamaru scowled. Asuma smirked around his cigarette, already sliding out the booth so Shikamaru could get past.
"Have fun," the Jōnin teased.
Ino glanced up, frowning. "Hey, can't it at least wait until we're finished up here?"
Shikamaru sighed and gripped the far end of the table, biting back a wince at the stitch in his ribs. He slid across the seat and onto his feet. "And have the pig shit a brick? No thanks."
"You're just scared Ino will pick it up and chuck it at your head," Chōji chuckled, already leaning away when Ino whipped around, smacking his face with her hair.
She jabbed him with her chopsticks.
"It was compost for the new flowers!" she snapped, then stilled, an unexpected smile blooming across her face as she slowly clasped her hands to her cheek, batting her lashes up at Asuma coyly. "Oooh, sensei? We have some really pretty flowers just come in! They're crimson too."
Asuma's eyes widened, his smoke puffing out in a guttural cough as he rubbed a thumb along the bridge of his nose, eyebrows arched in embarrassment as he looked everywhere but at the cooing blonde.
Shikamaru smirked. "Have fun," he drawled, turning a lazy step around the Jōnin as Asuma reluctantly sank back into the booth.
Just as reluctantly, Shikamaru navigated a route towards the door, giving himself time to stretch out the cramp at his ribs as he twisted to avoid disastrous collision with the bustling waiters and customers.
Several narrow misses and a creative twist later, he was out the door.
Tonton looked up at him, thoroughly unimpressed at the drawn out sigh he whistled into the crisp air, slotting his hands into his pockets as he stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, arching his back to stretch out a kink.
"What a damn drag…" he groaned.
The pig grunted and charged his feet to turn him in the right direction.
Shikamaru didn't have time to free his hands and defamed Tonton's lineage beneath his breath as the hurtling sow knocked his balance and pitched him sideways in a graceless stagger that had his feet shifting fast to keep him upright.
Fuck!
Relying solely on footwork, he swerved his path in an abrupt veer, rounding the corner so fast he didn't see the glint of steel before he crashed into a burst of white. Cold metal struck his brow in a sharp crack that had his jaw snapping shut and his ears ringing from the impact.
Arrgh…I swear to God…
Shikamaru scowled, cracking an eye open before his dark orbs flashed wide.
Pale opalescent orbs gazed back at him.
Then a deep murmur caressed his mouth, the cultured tones like a drag of rough silk.
"You're still racing a mile a minute, Shikamaru…"
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Break to Breathe