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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.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
Title: Chrysanthemum

Author: D.A. Maxwell

Chapter: 05

A/N:

     To recap on a mistake in the last fic, pen_name has so kindly alerted me to the fact that by Shippuden, Neji is a jounin and Shikamaru is still chuunin. All I can say is... "Oops?" I've never seen a second of Shippuden, so... XD If I make any more mistakes, please let me know! I may or may not revise the chapter, depending on how important it is, but I'd like to know the real facts. ^^v For the sake of this story, though, I'm keeping things as is.

     The longest chapter so far-- I didn't actually intend for it to end up quite this lengthy, but it amuses me. It may be a while before the sixth chapter, though, because this week is kind of bad for work, school, and going to the hospital for a blood test. @_@;

     Enjoy! And as always, please review and tell me what you like/what you hate!

REVIEWS:

     pen_name: Thank you for letting me know he's tone deaf~ I'm amazed I've never come across that in fanfiction so far. XD Does your brother do architecture or something? But thank you. *blush* Making floorplans is a useless obsession of mine... If I could see inside your head, I'd offer to make a floorplan for both fics for you, but alas... I'm not psychic. T_T Ramble away! I love rambling comments. As you can see, I ramble back.

     sabrina: Um... does that mean it's not anymore? ^^;

     Drivven Labyrinth: Aww! I'm glad I could help. I'm sorry it was One of Those Days. =( *hugs back and offers some hot cocoa with chibi-ShikaNejis on top*

     Travellyr: *squeaks* Thank you for catching the PM/AM typo! I was originally going to have Shikamaru sleep past noon, but figured Neji wouldn't be that patient. XD I'm glad you liked it, though. ^__^ *offers you a Shikamaru-shaped brownie* =3 "I like it" is generally always nice to hear, but I like that you listed specifically what you liked. ^_^ Thank you!

     Sasurto: *blush* #^.^# Yay! I'm happy you like it, and I'm always happy to introduce people to one of my OTPs. ♥

--

     Two weeks went by, with two torturous o-miais Neji was forced to attend. Granted, only one was formal enough to involve meeting the girl; the other had been an unofficial tea with the mother of an eighteen year old. Both were distant relatives, and Neji felt sure that this was the reason he'd been made to go.
     Still, Hiashi proved true to his word. He'd alert Neij ahead of time if an unsatisfactory would-be fianc�e was on her way, and the young man made a point to spend more and more time in the training grounds away from home. One evening, however, Neji fled the Hyuuga mansion just to find himself caught in a light sprinkle that he knew would inevitably end up as an end-of-summer downpour. Cursing his luck, he ran off.
     Perhaps he could visit Lee, his friend and long-time comrade-- but no, he didn't feel up to hearing a soliloquy on the cleansing spirit of the rain to rejuvenate the essence of the springtime of youth.
     Or something. Who knew what he'd come up with?
     Tenten, mayb-- ah. Ugh. No. It was best to not even venture near that terrain. Damn nuisance of a woman. He could almost see why Shikamaru showed such disdain for them.
     No way in hell was he going to turn to Naruto for anything, and Sakura and Ino were just as bad. He wasn't very well-acquainted with Chouji, and Kiba and Shino were out of the question. That left...
     Neji stared at the apartment door in front of him, wondering when he'd even gotten there. His hand was raised, poised to knock, but he hesitated-- and this hesitation unnerved him all the more. Overall, his last visit had gone unexpectedly well. It's not as if I'm expecting a fight or anything-- why am I so reluctant? Still, not knowing where else to go, he gave up and knocked. And knocked again.
     Nothing.
     "Dammit," he muttered. Of all the times for the lazy Nara to be out of the house! He wasn't on a mission, Neji knew, as he had been at the Hokage's tower just that morning. Grocery shopping, maybe? Whatever; it didn't matter where Shikamaru was if it wasn't 'at home.' Sighing, he turned away and headed down the hall, wondering if avoiding the meeting was worth sitting outdoors in the rain.
     Just as he reached out for the door at the end of the hall, however, it swung open on its own. Neji just barely managed to jump back in time to avoid getting hit by it, landing softly and scowling at whatever moron had been so rude to--
     Oh. So that's where he'd been.
     Shikamaru gave him a strange look as he pulled off the formal haori he'd worn over his head to keep out of the rain. "Yes? Do you have something to say, or are you just going to stare at me?"
     The scowl returned as Neji crossed his arms. "You're going to ruin the fabric. That kind of silk isn't very appropriate for the weather."
     "Yeah, well-- at least if it's ruined, mom can't make me wear it anymore. It's such a pain in the ass," Shikamaru grumbled as he tugged at his collar and headed for his apartment. When he didn't hear footsteps behind him, he paused and glanced back at Neji. "Coming?"
     "..." Silently, Neji trailed after.
     Shikamaru barely managed to keep the smirk off his face as he unlocked the door and went inside. Thought so, he mentally congratulated himself. So predictable.
     Closing and locking the door behind Neji, he headed for his room. Looking around, Neji noticed that both the bathroom and bedroom doors had been left wide open while Shikamaru was out. Guess it wasn't just me, after all. Looking away, his eyes fell on the artbook, and he found himself gravitating toward it curiously. Perching on one arm of the couch, he reached out for the artbook, picked it up, and pulled it onto his lap. He skimmed through most of the pictures, lingering on a few choice sketches; however, he was disappointed to find nothing new.
     Disappointed? No, that couldn't be right-- he didn't care about something so trivial. It was just curiosity, unsatisfied curiosity.
     "I heard you actually went to an o-miai the other day," Shikamaru spoke up as he reentered the room, startling Neji into almost dropping the sketchpad. Raising an eyebrow as he tossed Neji a towel to dry off his hair, the jounin let out a low, quiet whistle around the cigarette in his mouth, heading to the kitchen to get a cool drink. "Down, boy, no need to be so jumpy."
     Frowning at Shikamaru speaking to him as if he were Akamaru, Neji put the book back onto the table before running the towel over his hair and shoulders. "I'm not jumpy, I just didn't expect you to speak so suddenly."
     Smirking, Shikamaru came ambling over to lean against the back of the couch, hovering over his guest's shoulder. "Mmhmm," he murmured dismissively, handing him a glass of water. "You like drawings or something? You spent around an hour looking at that thing last time, too."
     "Not particularly. I have no opinion on art," Neji corrected mildly, nodding in thanks for the drink. "It's much more one of Hinata's interests."
     "Hmm..."
     Neji narrowed his eyes. "What?"
     Blinking slowly, Shikamaru tilted his head and gave him an amused look. "What what?"
     Neji resisted the urge to growl. Really, the man knew just the right buttons to press... How infuriating. "What were you thinking?"
     "Thoughts," Shikamaru answered with a careless shrug, much to Neji's chagrin. Straightening, he walked around the couch to take a seat, pulled out an ashtray from a drawer beneath the coffee table and set that down. He tapped the smoldering end against the edge, taking a drink of water before leaning back contentedly, looking perfectly at ease.
     Eyeing the cigarette, Neji's brow furrowed. "... Why do you smoke? You didn't used to, did you?"
     Opening his eyes halfway, Shikamaru's expression was unusually serious rather than bored or smug. "No. I didn't." Leaving it at that, he put the white cylinder to his lips again.
     Waiting for further explanation, Neji frowned when he realized that one wasn't forthcoming. He's being incredibly aggravating right now. "It's not healthy for a ninja to have an addiction like that," he commented, tone just barely this side of patronizing. Shikamaru seemed unaffected by it, however, as he just shrugged again.
     After a moment of silence, Shikamaru spoke-- quiet, thoughtful. "Asuma-sensei smoked."
     Tensing, Neji remained quiet. He knew about Asuma-sensei, of course-- that he'd been the mentor for Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino, and had been killed by the psychopathic then-Akatsuki member Hidan. Hidan was ultimately blown to pieces by the Nara himself, although Neji didn't know the details. Whether or not Hidan still breathed, he was as good as dead.
     Never having had that kind of close relationship with a mentor figure, Neji couldn't entirely understand, or at all relate. However, he knew the man had been important to him, and he supposed that was all that really mattered.
     They shared a few minutes of quiet contemplation, Neji sipping at his water from time to time and Shikamaru relaxing. Despite that the silence should have, by all rights, been awkward as hell, neither felt bothered in the least by it. That being said, the knock at the door made both of them flinch as the harsh sound cut through their thoughts.
     Shikamaru frowned at the door, muttering as he got up and headed over. "God damn it, it better not be Hinata, or Naruto, or Hiashi, or..."
     Or his neighbours?
     Two adolescent girls stood with hopeful smiles, both seeming to be about fifteen years old. Shikamaru recognized the one with the curly blonde locks who lived with her parents and little sister in the apartment to the east of his; the redhead, however, was a stranger. "Yes?"
     "Hi, Nara-san! Sorry to bug you-- troublesome, I know, I know-- but we were just wondering if Momoko-chan and I could borrow half a cup of sugar," Satou asked in a wheedling voice.
     "We're making smoothies," Momoko explained unnecessarily as Satou glanced past Shikamaru, forever curious what the man's place must look like.
     Her eyes widened when she saw Neji, who had partially turned on the arm of the couch to eye the door. It took her all of two seconds to wonder what somebody so handsome and well-bred was doing at her quiet, lazy neighbour's home, incorrectly assess the situation, and go red from embarrassment. Delighted excitement, but embarrassment nonetheless. "Oh, my god-- I'm sorry! Were we interrupting something? Is he your boyfriend? He's so pretty!"
     Shikamaru stared as Neji froze, blinking at her. It wasn't every day that somebody could throw the proud ninja off his guard... although admittedly, Shikamaru seemed to have no problem doing so. Did she really just ask that?
     Glowering, the jounin held out a hand for the measuring cup. "Don't go jumping to conclusions like that, Satou. He's just a friend." Well, sort of.
     "Really? What a shame! I think you'd look so cute together!" Momoko squealed, having seen Neji a moment after her companion.
     "Why is he all wet?" Satou asked curiously. "I mean, summer or not, it's air-conditioned in here... wouldn't he be cold? You gonna warm him up, Na--"
     "Do you want the sugar or not?" Shikamaru asked in a flat, annoyed tone.
     Both of the girls giggled as Satou handed him a measuring cup. He pointedly closed the door before walking over to the kitchen as he complained to himself under his breath. Collecting the requested amount of sugar, he went back, opened the door, and held it out to them. "There. Now go away."
     Satou received the sugar with a thank-you, but her eyes were glittering mischievously. "You seem impatient to get rid of us. So you can have some alone time with loverboy there?" Satou couldn't help teasing as she grabbed Momoko's arm and pulled her back before Shikamaru could attack them-- not that he would have. Too much effort.
     He gave them a strange look instead. "What the hell are you talking about? Do you not understand the word 'friend'?"
     Momoko rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. Two cute, healthy young guys sitting around in an apartment, doing who-knows-what?"
     "Should I assume inappropriate things are going on between you two, then?" Shikamaru retorted drily.
     Momoko blushed as Satou's eyes widened. "Of course not!"
     "Then don't assume things about other people." Rolling his eyes as they began to protest, the ninja shut the door and returned to the couch. "Teenaged girls: nature's greatest mistake," he sighed.
     "Are your neighbours always so nosy?" Neji snorted.
     "Yes. You should have seen Satou's reaction the other day when Sakura came by to drop something off." Shikamaru grimaced. "And that crazy bitch definitely didn't help. She seemed to think it was cute to egg the brat on." He glanced at Neji. "But they're right-- you're probably cold, aren't you? Need to borrow some clothes?"
     Neji frowned. "I doubt yours would fit me."
     "They might be a little loose, but shouldn't be too bad. Come on." Leading Neji to his room and dropping the towel in a hamper, Shikamaru went to the closet and pulled out a plain, white t-shirt and tossed it to Neji. Thinking for a moment, he dug around in the back of his closet, looking for a box he'd meant to go through and throw the unsalvagably small clothes away. Finding it and opening it up, he withdrew a pair of black capris that had become too snug for him after his unexpected growth spurt in the last year and handed those to Neji as well.
     Although he was uncomfortable with borrowing somebody else's clothes, Neji's own really were starting to give him chills in the cool apartment. With a nod of thanks, he went to the bathroom and changed, hanging his to dry along the curtain rod of the bath before exiting.
     He found his host sitting on the couch again, cigarette sitting dead in the ashtray as he read a book. "... Does she come by a lot? The kid, I mean," Neji asked.
     Shikamaru nodded. "She does a lot of weird cooking projects, so she's always coming over to borrow ingredients for them."
     "Like..." Neji paused for a second, recalling her words. "'Smoothies'? What are those?"
     Looking up from the book to stare at him, Shikamaru wondered for a second if he was joking. When Neji scowled in embarrassment, obviously guessing Shikamaru's thoughts, the younger man shook his head. "Serious? Wow. Well, you didn't grow up with bossy women around, so I guess that makes sense. Still, I'd have thought that Tenten and Lee, by now... do you ever just hang out with them?" Neji shook his head, and he sighed, heading for the kitchen again. "Come here."
     Narrowing his eyes, Neji remained where he was. "Why?"
     Glancing back at him, Shikamaru arched an eyebrow. "Are you suspicious of everything anyone says or does?" Neji didn't respond, but he dismissed the topic anyway. "Just come here, idiot."
     Bristling, Neji stood. "I'm not an idiot," he snapped as he wandered over.
     Shikamaru smirked as he opened the refrigerator, pulling out some milk, vanilla yogurt, and a ripe peach. "You obeyed, didn't you?" Neji immediately stopped walking, and Shikamaru sighed again. "It was just a joke, okay? Don't take everything so seriously."
     "Anybody would take an insult like that seriously," Neji argued.
     "No," Shikamaru countered calmly as he opened a cupboard and took out sugar and a blender, "they wouldn't. It's all about context. Sakura and Ino insult each other all the time, but they're still best friends."
     Neji ignored the point in favour of staring blankly at the ingredients. "What are you doing?"
     Shikamaru tossed him the peach. "Knife's in that drawer to your right, next to the stove. Peel the skin off that. We're going to make smoothies."
     "... Is this another joke of yours?"
     "Nope." Looking amused at the man's disbelief, Shikamaru got out a tray of ice cubes. "Haven't spent much time in the kitchen, have you?"
     "I never had a reason to," Neji defended indignantly as he went to get the knife. Setting the tray down on the counter, Shikamaru turned and eyed him for a moment. Feeling the eyes on him, Neji glanced over with an unsettled look. "What?"
     When Shikamaru moved closer and put his hands on the counter on either side of Neji and leaned in, the unsettled feeling immediately spiraled as the man tensed. Shikamaru watched him seriously, invading the hell out of his personal space bubble but standing still until Neji's immediate fight-or-flight instinct calmed down a bit. "Neji, I want you to do something for me. While you're here, try not to get so pissed off at everything I say or do. I'm not at any point planning to hurt you, and I'm not actually trying to offend you. It's just teasing, okay? Relax."
     "I'd relax more if you'd back off a few inches," Neji fumed, a dangerous, warning look in his milky white eyes.
     Shikamaru seemed infuriatingly entertained by Neji's discomfort, but after a few drawn-out, torturous moments, he did as told. "A word of advice: the more you get riled up, the more I'm going to tease you. Just don't let it get to you."
     "We're not all too lazy to care, unlike you," Neji retorted.
     With another smirk, Shikamaru leaned in again spitefully, just a bit-- just enough to annoy the other man. "Oh, I'm lazy all right, but that has nothing to do with it. I don't see a reason to concern myself with what other people think. I know myself better than anybody else does, and I'd imagine you do, too. Everyone in Konoha knows you're brilliant, Hyuuga, so you can't possibly believe that somebody calling you an idiot would mean it the way you assume. The result is that you can deduce it was just a joke."
     "Somebody being the brunt of the joke generally wouldn't find it very funny, would they?"
     "Sometimes they do, but being the target happens to everyone. It's part of life, so you just have to learn to deal with it. The more of a reaction you give, the more it's going to happen. Look at Naruto-- he acts spastic and defensive, and he gets mocked for it constantly. He just generally lets it bounce off of him because it doesn't matter. He's casual and comfortable with himself, and doesn't hold anger over people's heads, so even though he's a hyperactive idiot, everyone likes him. Even you have respect for him, right?"
     Neji remained silent.
     Sighing, Shikamaru dropped his head. "Just... let things go, okay? Take it easy." Standing upright again, he shot Neji one last, indecipherable look before turning back to drop the ice and yogurt into the blender. "Once you've got the skin off, cut it into slices and drop it in here," he instructed as he sidestepped the other to get some cups out of the cupboard by his head.
     Eyeing him warily, Neji furrowed his brow. What... was that? Aside from irritating, aggravating, frustrating, confusing.
     Pulling out two cups and setting them on the counter in front of him, Shikamaru glanced at Neji and raised an eyebrow. "Yes? Need me to show you how to use a knife?"
     Neji twitched, but swallowed the irritation that immediately flared up. "No," he replied as he turned away to cut the peach, determined to not let the younger man get the better of him. As he returned to the blender, Shikamaru allowed himself a smug look at the Hyuuga appearing to concede.
     After a few more minutes, they were done. Taking their cups, they went back to the couch and sat down. Shikamaru held his smoothie, but rather than taking a drink, he smirked at the other man. "Try it."
     Neji eyed the drink warily, but put it to his lips and sampled a tentative sip. He got mostly froth, however, and frowned before taking a larger drink. His eyes went wide as he put a hand to his mouth, staring at it. "It's sweet."
     "Bad?"
     "No. I... it's good. I've never had anything like it."
     "Good." Satisfied, Shikamaru leaned back to enjoy his own drink.
     Several moments of thoughtful silence passed before Neji spoke again. "Are there... a lot of drinks like this? Things that are sweet, so easy to make, but commonplace?" To everyone except me, anyway. I wonder if Hinata and Hanabi have tried smoothies before?
     "Hmm... I don't know what you have or haven't had, so that's hard to gauge. Smoothies are about as basic as you can get, though, since all you have to do is change a few of the ingredients to give it whatever flavour you want," Shikamaru explained. "Foods are usually more complicated, but there's a lot more variety, too-- pastries, cr�pes, candied things, chocolate-covered fruits..." Voice trailing off, he laughed at Neji's expression. "You've never had any of those?"
     Looking away from him with a faint flush of embarrassment, Neji shook his head. "Hiashi-sama doesn't approve of junk food. I've had fancy dessert cr�pes when a guest brought some once, and pastries... we get cakes once in a while." He paused as a thought occurred to him, then shot Shikamaru an odd look. "Wait, do you actually know how to make all of those? Why? Isn't that usually more of a woman's thing?"
     Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "A lot of bakers and chefs are guys. But I was an only child, so my mom made me help her in the kitchen when I wasn't training with dad. Annoyed the hell outta me then, but turned out to be useful when I moved out. Go figure." He blinked, eyeing Neji curiously. "You don't know how to cook anything at all?"
     Neji frowned. "Of course I can. It's basic survival skills to be able to hunt and cook what you kill, or recognize which plants are poisonous and which aren't. I've just never made food that's just... decorative."
     "Hardly decorative," Shikamaru drawled."I'm sure a lot of the junk we 'commoners' eat are nothing compared to you nobles."
     "You're from a good family, too," Neji pointed out. "You have all that medical background in your ancestry, and an enormous clan property..."
     Shikamaru shook his head. "But we're a lot more casual. I still grew up like any of the other average kids. The property is just because of all the deer we have, and not every generation goes into the medical field. Dad knows some of that stuff, but his focus was always being a ninja. I've read the medical books we have lying around, and borrowed some from relatives, but I don't plan to be a doctor anytime soon."
     "Why not?" Neji asked. "It seems like that would be ideal for someone as inert as you... staying in town instead of running around, working in a building and only having to travel from room to room..."
     Shikamaru didn't respond right away, but when he did, his voice was quiet. "Too risky," he replied. "I don't want to be responsible for all those lives. I don't want to have to own up to somebody dying because I got careless or miscalculated."
     The response startled Neji. While it made sense that the indolent man didn't want to have to deal with the patients, the fact that it was because he felt insufficient briefly rattled him. So he worries, too. "But... you're a jounin. You lead people on missions all the time. Wouldn't that be more dangerous?" he pointed out cautiously.
     "Completely different," came the other's answer. "Ninjas know that they could die in any given mission; doctors aren't supposed to make mistakes. Besides, I don't usually lead very many groups. A lot of my missions are solo jobs."
     Neji was surprised again. "What? Really? Why...? You were a chuunin examiner for several years, you've led missions since you were twelve, you taught at the academy by the time you were fifteen..."
     A smile quirked at the corner of Shikamaru's mouth-- not a smirk, but an actual smile. "Hmmm... is there a reason you've been keeping track of my life, Hyuuga?" he teased.
     Neji shot him a Look. "I was there when you were promoted to chuunin, went on the Sasuke mission with you, and you were the youngest academy instructor in-- I don't know how long. Maybe ever. Everyone knows this." When Shikamaru didn't respond, Neji replayed the words in his head-- and abruptly realized that the young man hadn't actually answered his question, neatly sidestepping it instead. "Why are your missions solo? Aren't jounin usually supposed to be captains...?"
     "Mmhmm, but I wasn't appointed to be a captain. I guess I'm technically more of a Tokubetsu Jounin, even though I'm not classified as that. I'm not as well-rounded as jounin usually are."
     "Then why were you appointed?" Eyeing the wordless Nara, Neji set his drink down on the table and turned more fully to him. "... Is it confidential?"
     "Not... really, no." Shikamaru sighed, muttering something about the other man being a pain in the ass. Neji ignored the comment, waiting. "Do you know how my shadow jutsus works at night?"
     Neji blinked. "... Wouldn't they be stronger? Since everything is in shadow?"
     Shikamaru shook his head. "Nope. Shadows are cast by an object blocking a light source. During the day, that light source is the sun. At night, though, it's not a matter of something blocking that light source so much as the earth being turned away from the sun and facing the rest of space, where no light naturally exists. This makes my shadows almost useless."
     Not understanding how this could possibly have gotten Shikamaru the promotion, Neji listened attentively.
     "So on a moonless night, or if there's something to completely cancel out all light-- clouds, a dense forest, whatever-- I'm screwed. I can't just use any dark spot there is to extend my shadow-- there has to be some kind of form to it. In pitch darkness, even if that darkness is created by a dense forest blocking the sky, I have to rely completely on taijutsu. But as long as there's a moon, enough stars, a fire or a flashlight or whatever, that creates sufficient light, there are shadows-- a lot of shadows."
     "Then..." Neji's eyes widened. "My god. You'd be able to manipulate everything those shadows touch? That can't be right, I'd have heard of that kind of power by now..."
     "Nope. Extra shadows only give me more length, not more strength. The further away a shadow is, the less I can control it. Plus, chakra reserves," Shikamaru reminded. "I have a very average amount of chakra, and though it's gotten better over the years, it's nowhere near what others have. So I can hold an enemy to stall for time while others escape, but the more enemies there are, the more it drains my chakra, and the faster the shadows become pretty useless. If I don't have to worry about teammates, though, I can manage how much chakra I'm expending much more easily."
     "But would that be enough to make you a jounin? That doesn't make sense-- it doesn't seem like it's enough of a reason," Neji argued. "It still sounds more like a weakness than an advantage."
     "You'd be completely right. If they were ordinary missions." Shikamaru smiled wryly. "Tell me, what would be the best kind of job for a ninja who works alone, becomes stronger at night under the right circumstances, and can make fast strategies while considering however many variables might be in the way? Who can get in quickly, get the job done in the quietest way possible, and get out?"
     Thinking this over, Neji felt his head begin to ache. The only answer that made sense didn't make sense-- not with the other man's rank. "You're not ANBU," he stated flatly. "You can't be specializing in assassinations. Not even jounin do."
     "You're right, I'm not ANBU," Shikamaru agreed. "I don't want to be. Being a jounin just allows me more freedom and access than remaining a chuunin would have. Besides, I'm not that strong of a ninja overall-- my intelligence is my strongest point." He sighed. "According to Tsunade, I have the fundamental requirements. I'm able to carry out assassinations with or without a team, my family's medical background gives me detailed knowledge of the human body, and my jutsus are silent and discrete, so I should be well-suited to the task. But I don't have a lot of chakra, I'm not particularly fast, I don't have enough experience. I don't want that mask or its responsibilities, and I don't want to slow down my teammates."
     He stopped and took a deep breath, looking drained. "Besides... some of the things I've seen are already bad enough. If I had to be ANBU, doing only this kind of stuff all the time, I'm not sure how long I could handle it." Putting down his drink, he opened the drawer of the coffee table, pulled out a cigarette and lighter, and lit the end. A gradual calm visibly settled over him as he inhaled, then let out a slow, smoky breath. "Satisfied?"
     "... Yes." 'I'm sorry' didn't seem appropriate, so instead, Neji added a soft, "thank you." Shikamaru nodded in acknowledgment, bored look returning to his face and clearly tired of talking.
     They drank their smoothies in silence for a bit, Neji thinking and Shikamaru carefully not. Once Shikamaru put out his cigarette, he fetched a pencil from the drawer, picked up the artbook, opened it up to the latest blank page, and began to sketch. Neji glanced at it, but not wanting to disturb him, he looked away. Getting up after a while, he pulled one of Shikamaru's books from the bookshelves, returned to the couch, sat down, and began to read.
     A peaceful hour drifted by before Shikamaru put the sketchpad away. Neji looked at him curiously, wondering if it was all right to look, but this time, Shikamaru smirked and shook his head. "Later," he promised, "when I'm done." He got up to take their empty cups to the sink, washing them quickly so that he wouldn't end up with a bothersome pile of dishes to do later.
     Returning, he stood behind the couch with his arms crossed on the back, leaning over. Neji looked up at him, almost instinctively frowning, but managing to smooth out his expression before the suspicion could quite reach his eyes. Guessing what was going on, Shikamaru chuckled. "Bored?"
     "Not really. Why?"
     "You've been on that page for the last few minutes, so I figured your mind wasn't really on the book." Shikamaru tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, a challenging grin at his lips. "How about a game?"
     This time, Neji couldn't keep his eyes from narrowing, as he'd gotten quite tired of Shikamaru's idea of fun. "... What kind of game?"
     Laughing at the young man's wariness, Shikamaru shook his head as he stood. "Shougi. Or Go. I have both, it doesn't matter." Neji relaxed, and he snorted. "What did you think I was going to say?"
     "With you, I never know," Neji snarked.
     Shikamaru conceded the point to him and went to go fetch the supplies. Bringing them out to the middle of the room, several feet in front and to the left of the couch, he and Neji sat down on opposite sides and laid out the pieces. For the rest of the evening, they played.
     They only got through two games around dinner, both of which Shikamaru won-- but just barely. Perhaps it was just his paranoia, but Neji couldn't but wonder if Shikamaru had let him get so close. After all, even if he himself was also considered a genius-- a prodigy, anyway-- he wasn't a born tactician the way the other was. Still, rather than try to argue whether or not the games had been fair, he let it slide. He'd hassled the other man enough for the day as it was, and it had gotten late. He was tired.
     A brief argument broke out when they were getting ready for bed, as Neji insisted on sleeping in the living room once more and Shikamaru refused to hear any of it. "You're going to end up getting up at a ridiculous hour again and getting pissed off that I'm comfortably unconscious while you're sleep-deprived and grouchy," Shikamaru drawled, adding that it wasn't as if they'd be crammed together; the full-sized bed was easily big enough to fit two, even three if small, people comfortably. Eventually, too exhausted to argue-- and he had lost their games, after all-- Neij gave up and followed Shikamaru into the room. The host took the spot by the wall, beneath the window, while the guest was permitted the outer edge so that he could flee if he felt too awkward.
     There was some shifting around as they got comfortable, lying facing in opposite directions. Although Neji didn't want to admit it, the bed was extremely comfortable, even more so than his own. Then again, he spends so much time here, I shouldn't be surprised, he thought mockingly. With a final yawn, he closed his eyes.
     Within a few breaths, both young men were fast asleep.
--
A/N:

Satou = "sugar"

Momo = "peach"

Neither 'milk' nor 'yogurt' made for remotely decent-sounding names, so there you go. XD My cheesy bit of foreshadowing.

I've seen endless discussion go back and forth on whether or not Shikamaru is stronger or weaker at night, so I gave up trying to find the 'truth'-- if Kishimoto's even given one yet. As such, that part of the fic is complete bull. XD Sumimasen, moshiwake gozaimasen. *bows*
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Chrysanthemum