A Troublesome Series of Events

God you guys. D: I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. It makes me happy that you like it so much.

ShikaChouFan4Life: Glad you like it! 8D We were originally just going to have Sasuke and Naruto compete over Shikamaru (like they do with everything else!) but we felt so bad for Naruto after that last chapter, so we changed it up.
Admiral ShadowWolf: Oh, the plot twists that will come... >D
Tellnoone_Noonetells: Well, of course we're drug dealers. I MEAN. -shifty eyes- Mmmm~ apple pie. -scarfs it down!- We're trying our hardest to not make Naruto suffer so much. xD;
Tealya: I'm glad you like it so much~! We try our best to keep it interesting; for ourselves and you guys.

Thanks so much to the rest of you that reviewed! WE LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. D: -throws love at you-

--

Naruto was confused throughout Shikamaru’s explanation. His knit brows didn’t let up until the end of what Shikamaru had to say. Move in? Move in with someone? He wouldn’t have to live alone anymore? He could feel his face light up in a smile, genuine this time, and he grabbed Shikamaru up in a fierce hug that lifted him off the ground.

“Really Shikamaru? Really?” He said, nuzzling his face into whatever part of Shikamaru was at nuzzle level as he felt glee bubble up in his chest. A home. A real home, with friends, family, maybe even a lover!

Shikamaru blinked, surprised at the complete change in emotions. He smiled, chuckling a little and thinking to himself that he shouldn’t be surprised because it was Naruto.

“Yeah, of course. My apartment is too big anyway for just me.”

“Ah, thank you Shikamaru, thank you! I’ve never lived with anybody before. It’ll be great, won’t it?” Naruto continued, letting the boy slip to the ground, his arms still around him. He rested his forehead against Shikamaru’s forehead, smiling broadly at him. “I won’t be alone anymore.”

Shikamaru’s smile widened a little and he finally took his hands from his pockets, wrapping his arms around Naruto’s waist loosely.

Naruto’s lips tugged, a softer smile breaking out on his face. He lent down, pecking Shikamaru on the lips before he pulled back, stepping away from the Nara’s embrace. He kept his smile up, scratching the back of his neck.

“So… still hungry?”

Shikamaru blushed a little before chuckling. “Yeah, I am,” he said with a nod. “Did you still want to take me out?”

Naruto blushed at the ‘take me out’ part, but nodded, smiling at him.

“Sure, since you’re still hungry. Where do you wanna eat?” He said happily, shuffling his feet. His eyes glanced around their surroundings, wincing at the destruction. They might want to leave quickly, since he’d forced them to stay so long as was…

Shikamaru shrugged and once again stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’m not picky. Barbeque, sushi, dango… We can go to Ichiraku’s if you want,” he said, still smiling.

Naruto shrugged in return, shaking his head.

“I don’t care either, it’s… it’s your choice.” He said, lifting a hand and scratching the back of his neck, again. He would probably have scratch marks; he’s been doing it so much.

“Mm, barbeque, I suppose then,” he said after a second of deciding. Going there with Chouji all the time had made it one of his favourite places to eat since he was a genin.

Naruto scrunched his nose at Shikamaru, sticking his tongue out at him playfully. He didn’t hate barbeque, but he didn’t love it either. But, it was what Shikamaru wanted, and he could live with it.

“Alright, where’s your favorite one?” He asked, reaching out and grabbing Shikamaru’s hand. He started dragging the Nara away, impatient to leave the site of destruction behind him.

Shikamaru snorted lightly at Naruto’s antics but still had a smile on as he followed the other boy, letting himself be dragged but still walking at a slower pace.

“Ah, really any of them are fine, “ he said with a shrug. “The one near the bookstore has more choices and it’s cheaper, but more… bland, as Chouji puts it. The one closer to the Hokage Mountain is more expensive, but their beef is really good.”

Naruto grinned at him, picking up the pace in his excitement.

“Well, Iruka-sensei didn’t give me too much money, so I guess it’s the cheap place!” He said, somewhat sheepishly since Shikamaru had sounded like he liked the other place better. He just hoped they could still have a good time.

Shikamaru nodded, not minding either way. His smile widened to a smirk and commented, “As long as I don’t have to eat soldier pills, I’m not complaining.”

Naruto snickered happily, finally leading them into the restaurant. He got them a table, sitting down across from Shikamaru, ticking his fingers on the table as he grew anxious. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been in a barbeque place, or the last time he’ been alone with someone at a restaurant that wasn’t Iruka-sensei.

“So, uh… How would we all fit?” Naruto began awkwardly. He internally winced, knowing he should probably have waited to breech the subject, but… he needed to know! He was practically vibrating from the news.

Shikamaru rested his arms on the table, folding them and slouching forward. He frowned a little in thought and nodded to himself after a few seconds.

“We can move my bookshelves into the living room and turn the study into a bedroom,” he said. “If we move things around there should be enough room for an extra futon in the living room, too.”

Naruto’s features drew together at the thought. He thunked his elbow on the table, resting his cheek in his palm and jutting his lower lip out at Shikamaru.

“That means we’re all sleeping in different beds.” He said in almost a whine. A waitress came up just then, dropping off two menus and sauntering off. Naruto glanced her way, his lip still out in a pouting sort of way, before his eyes traveled down to the menu.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the menu, quickly picking out something that was fairly cheap. He looked back over at Naruto, smirking faintly.

“My bed’s not big enough for three people and I’m not leaving one of you out. Even if it was, it would be troublesome to have you both there. Would you really want to sleep in the same bed as Sasuke, too?”

Naruto picked out something cheap for himself, flushing slightly at Shikamaru’s words, glancing up with slightly widened eyes.

“No, well, yes, I mean… If I got to sleep with you… Besides, once he’s proved he’s trusting and stuff and allowed on missions, we probably all won’t be home at the same time as much…” Naruto floundered, glancing back down at his menu. He’d always dreamed of falling asleep in someone’s arms…

“Yes, but who knows how long that would be. First of all, we have to see what Tsunade says,” he said, smiling. “Then we’ll figure out exactly what to do, okay?”

Naruto hung his head, lowering his eyes a bit. Would he really be allowed to move in, only to be forced to stay in another room? To get closer to feeling loved while he slept, something he’d never felt, and yet be denied?

“Sure…” If Shikamaru wanted it that way, he would wait. He could always hug his pillow like he seemed to wind up doing a lot.

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head, waiting until the worker turned on the grill in the middle of the table before speaking further.

“Naruto,” he started, “Just because we’ll all have separate beds doesn’t mean we’ll never sleep in the same bed. Wouldn’t you want a room to yourself in case you need time alone?”

“But you just said that your bed’s only big enough for two people and that you won’t kick one of us out!” Naruto said, confusion lighting on his face again. Did he miss something in this conversation?

“Are you ready to place your order?” Naruto flushed, looking over at their waitress. He hoped she hadn’t heard most of that…

“Well, I am, I don’t know about him.” He made a gesture to Shikamaru.

Shikamaru just nodded, shifting so his back was leaning against the seat’s back. “Kalbi short ribs and some oolong,” he said simply.

“I guess I’ll have pork-toro and some water to drink.” Naruto said, offering his menu to the girl. She took it, smiling sweetly at the two of them before walking off, her smile dropping just as she turned away. Naruto was mildly fascinated by this obvious demonstration of a well done emotional mask.

Shikamaru waited to make sure their waitress was out of ear shot before speaking again. "Naruto,” he said to get the others attention back. “That’s where getting futons come in. You can set up as many of them as you want next to each other.”

Naruto looked back at Shikamaru, his eyes widening slightly as comprehension dawned on him. A grin slowly spread across his face, eyes crinkling from the thought. It wouldn’t even matter that Sasuke would be there… too much.

“Shikamaru, you’re a genius!”

Shikamaru snorted but couldn’t help but smile. Only Naruto.

“So I’ve been told,” he said, chuckling. He looked up as their food and drinks were brought over and placed in front of them. He nodded his thanks before moving a hand to pick up his chopsticks. He broke them apart with a soft ‘itadakimasu’.

--

Naruto sat back, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his face. They’d had a pretty fun day today, not as active as he liked but more then what the Nara did on his own. He turned to his companion, eyes half closed like Shikamaru’s, grinning lazily.

“Sun’s about to set.” He stated. He knew what it meant, that Sasuke would be that much closer to Shikamaru, but he’d had a lot of time to cool down. A lot of time with just Shikamaru, and you can never stay angry around Shikamaru. He was just too mellow.

“Yeah,” Shikamaru said, stretching his arms up before placing them behind his head to cradle it as he walked. He sighed, closing his eyes. “It’ll be troublesome talking with that woman, though.”

He opened one eye to look over at Naruto. “Want me to drop by after to let you know how things went? Or you could come over tomorrow. Either way.”

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, mimicking Shikamaru by placing his hands behind his head as well.

“Don’t care. I’m pretty sure it won’t be too surprising considering its Sasuke.” He attempted to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but he knew that by being an Uchiha Sasuke wouldn’t have to go through as many acts of loyalty or whatever as others, at least not for the villagers.

“When would you want me moving in, anyway?” Naruto asked. The question had been bugging him on and off throughout the day. Could he move in as soon as possible, or would he have to wait until Sasuke and the village settled down from this new situation?

“Mm, next week?” he suggested, opening his other eye and turning his head slightly to watch him better. “So you can have time to pack, leave notices and all that.”

Naruto’s smile faltered a bit. Pack? He really had nothing to pack… Maybe a day’s worth, especially if he used kage bunshin. Notices… He really had no idea what to do about that sort of thing. His home was handled by the Hokage, always had been and he’d thought it always would be… All in all, it would really only take him one day to be ready, if he talked to Tsunade in the morning.

“Sure, next week. Let’s hope I don’t have a mission or something!” He laughed, dropping his arms and shoving them into his pockets.

Shikamaru nodded then started chuckling. He smirked and shook his head. “You’d better be careful or you’ll start thinking everything’s troublesome, Naruto,” he said, bringing a hand down momentarily to gesture at the other boy’s hands in his pockets.

Glancing down at himself, Naruto grinned, starting to chuckle himself. The chuckling soon morphed into louder snickers, and then transfigured into full out laughter. His day had been just that bit of fucked up, going from good to bad to good so often, that he just couldn’t stop laughing at the thought.

“Hah, Shikamaru, that would be so funny!” His grin was stretched as far as it would go, teeth showing as his lips curled back in mirth. “The only thing that would never be troublesome is ramen!”

Shikamaru couldn’t help but laugh too, trying to imagine Naruto acting like himself. “As funny as it would be, I don’t think Konoha needs another lazy-ass like me.”

“Aww, I’m sure if I got as smart as you it would make up for it.” Naruto said, throwing a haphazard arm over Shikamaru’s shoulders and squeezing him against the side of his chest. He was still practically vibrating with his high-strung amusement.

“But anyway, here we are, your apartment.” Naruto said, glancing up at the building. It would be his home, soon enough.

Shikamaru nodded, looking up at the building before glancing over to Naruto. His smile softened a little and he quickly pressed a kiss to his cheek before moving away. “I’ll see you later,” he said, heading to the entrance.

Naruto had a slightly stunned expression on his face, a hand absently touching his cheek. He flushed, a smirk twitching his grin into a devious light. His heart was beating like mad, thumping out a Morse code message of hope to his slow acting brain.

“Hee, I can’t wait!” He muttered to himself, taking off towards his own apartment. The old loneliness felt only like a distant dream, affecting him like a glimpse of nostalgia. He’d be escaping it soon enough to not care about the moment.

Shikamaru smiled to himself as he walked into the building and started up the stairs. The smile faded a little as he got to his floor, hoping Sasuke would be okay with the arrangements too. He heaved a sigh as he dug out his key and unlocked the door.