From the Abstract to the Practical

Chapter = Neji's Bday Present and Cute Naruto

They were the first to arrive at the little open air tea shop. They found a large table against the wall and waited. Naruto was starting to get a little concerned at the exact moment he heard it, the cacophony of noise that always preceded the two quarreling girls. Well at least we know they're o.k.

Ino and Sakura had somehow managed to double the amount of bags and packages that they’d each had when he’d left them. They looked exhausted. “Oi, Naruto, what’s the big idea worrying us all like that?” Bonk!

“Yeah, I see you shopped your worries away!” Naruto said, glaring at Sakura, and rubbing the top of his head tenderly. “Jeez, did you guys buy everything in the whole village or what?!”

Bad idea, this prompted Ino into a detailed account of their shopping spree. Every male at the table groaned loudly, including Akamaru. By the time she was winding down, Chouji stumbled to the table and collapsed in a mound of packages and bags.

“Can’t…take….anymore…….someone….please…….just kill me.” He gasped. Hinata bent down to help him. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten that about half her skirt had been left on the tailor’s floor. Neji catapulted across the table and forced her upright. He whispered something in her ear; she turned bright red, and nearly fainted.

Ten Ten took her from Neji and tried to calm her down. Poor Hinata, Naruto thought. She really doesn’t want to turn around right now. Over half the guys in the immediate vicinity were staring and openly drooling at her. Neji and Kiba were both glaring fiercely.

Shikamaru was still fuming inside. That uppity little bitch! If she hits him again….I really am gonna do something about it! Sakura was oblivious to his animosity. She and Ino were arguing again.

“We ran into a little excitement while looking for Naruto and Shikamaru.” Shino interjected in a low whisper. The girls’ heads snapped toward him. Ten Ten and Hinata looked very confused. They hadn’t even known anyone had been ‘missing’. Chouji was still slumped forward in a stupor.

Shikamaru explained the situation to them, leaving out as many details as possible. He didn’t really think they needed to know about the true intentions of that group or that it had originally been focused on Shino. He didn’t mention exactly how they’d avoided an altercation.

He just told them to go along with whatever he told them to do on the way back to the resort. He didn’t need to worry about Chouji. His best friend trusted his judgment completely and would follow instruction without question.

The trip to the resort went smoothly and soon they were all inside the bedroom that they’d put their bags in. Earlier, they’d been in a hurry to get started, so they had just chucked their things in the first room at the end of the hall and taken off.

Room assignments were up to them. The only stipulation that Shikamaru’s parents had made, was that the girls be in the rooms nearest theirs. And, of course, the girls were supposed to room with the girls and the guys were supposed to room with the guys. So, really there were two stipulations.

The girls sleeping arrangements were settled easily. Ten Ten and Hinata would take the room next to Shika’s parents and Ino and Sakura would take the room across from them. Neither, Sakura or Ino wanted to room with Ten Ten. The older girl had gotten a real edge to her over the last year. She was just a little scary.

As the girls were leaving, Kiba opened his big mouth and hit on a sore spot. “Well, since Lee isn’t here, at least it’s an even number.” He’d said as he leaned against the headboard of one of the beds.

Kiba was very glad that there was no chance he’d be in a room alone, just him and Akamaru. He knew Neji was out to get him. He actually grinned. Yep, things sure won’t be boring for awhile.

Sakura froze. Everyone knew why Lee hadn’t come. He was finally starting to get tired of pining for Sakura. He’d jumped at the mission he’d been offered, the day before last. Sakura looked devastated by the comment. Ino glared at Kiba and led the other girl from the room. No one spoke again until after all four girls had left. Then Shino and Chouji each slammed a pillow into Kiba.

“Moron!” Chouji huffed. Chouji was always so careful of the girls’ feelings. He has the best heart of us all. Shikamaru wasn’t the only one to think something like that just then.

“Man I am beat!” Chouji stretched and smiled at Shikamaru. It was obvious how the room arrangements would go from here. Shino and Kiba were teammates, as were Shikamaru and Chouji. So, it was obvious that Naruto and Neji would be rooming together too. Shikamaru hadn’t even considered it an option, but still couldn’t stifle the disappointment as he tried to offer Chouji a friendly smile.

“Chouji, I would really like to talk more about your family’s use of chakra increasing substances. You didn’t finish your explanation. You promised that you would.” Neji’s voice was smooth as silk. “If you are too tired….I understand, but if you are not; it might be best if we roomed together, so we do not keep the others up. I have some questions….” He let the thought trail off.

Chouji’s head whipped around to look at the older man. “I didn’t think you were really interested. I thought you only made me promise to be polite.” Neji shook his elegant head to indicate that Chouji had been wrong in his assumptions. “Wow, um, ok…that is, if it’s alright with Shikamaru and Naruto.” He turned to face each in his turn. “Do you guys mind rooming together tonight?”

Neji met Shikamaru’s eyes and Shika knew. He knows. He did that on purpose, so we could be alone. Shikamaru’s eyes narrowed. How long was he hiding in the dark at the ledge. Maybe, Shino wasn’t the first one to find us. Nobody could mask their chakra like a talented Hyuuga. Neji inclined his head a fraction in answer. Oh shit! There is no way I’m telling Naruto about this.

Shikamaru nodded to Chouji as Naruto did the same. Chouji didn’t look tired anymore. Shika had to hand it to Neji. He’d stroked Chouji’s ego perfectly. He’d be in for a full night’s discussion. Shika smiled at the other boy in thanks.

“Well, should we go pick a room and get settled?” Neji asked as he turned and picked up his things. “Good night everyone. Happy Birthday Shikamaru.” The last was said with a secretive smile that no one saw. No one needed to, it was enough that he knew he’d helped his friends at a very delicate time. At least someone is getting what they desire, what they need.

Chouji waved happily as he left the room, trailing behind Neji. They could hear him begin to explain the different chakra enhancements that his family employed, just as he cleared the doorway. He sounded ecstatic. As their voices grew fainter, they could hear Neji murmur a few questions, encouraging Chouji to continue. Neji would play the part of the polite attentive listener, careful of the other young man’s feelings. Shikamaru didn’t have to worry about that.

Naruto could not believe that bit of luck. He’d heard the earlier conversation and would have sworn that Neji hadn’t been interested at all. Oh…this means, we’ll be alone in here all night! He was thrilled and terrified all in one. To hide his emotions he began digging through his bag, as if he was looking for something.

Shino stood up. “We should get going too.”

Kiba waved a negating hand at him. “Why, just ‘cause those pansies can’t hang?” Shino rolled his eyes behind his glasses. Sometimes, Kiba was a real moron.

“Don’t you think it might be a good idea if get settled in our room a little early?” He asked is dimwitted friend.

“Why?”

Shino shook his head. “So, we can set some traps before we are too tired.”

“Traps?! Why?”

“So Neji doesn’t sneak in and kidnap you, you moron!” That last came out as a loud hiss.

“Oh!” Kiba jumped up, thanked Shino and wished the other two a good night as he headed out the door. The shout woke Akamaru, who stood slowly and shook himself. He cast a baleful eye on all three of them before trotting after Kiba.

Naruto was laughing so hard he was holding his arms tight around his stomach. “Good luck, Shino.” He chortled.

“I should just let Hyuuga have him.” Shino hissed again as he turned toward the door with both his and Kiba’s things.

Shikamaru stayed were he’d been, leaning against the small table, near the window. His arms were folded across his chest, in a leisurely manner. Naruto got up from his place on the floor under the window. He walked past Shikamaru without a word. Shika didn’t look up until he’d past. He watched the blonds back as he walked to the door.

Naruto could feel those dark eyes on his back as he shut and locked the door. He hesitated there for a moment, resting his forehead against the smooth wood. What now?! He heard Shikamaru shift his weight from one foot to the other. Stop being a pussy! He told himself sternly.

He turned. He couldn’t quite look at his roommate. He walked to the bed closest to the door and sat cross-legged on the end. “I guess we don’t need to sneak out after all.” He whispered.

Naruto’s head was down. Blond hair obscured his face. Man, this is a lot of work. Why did I start all this mess, again? An image of Naruto grinning at him cockily appeared in Shika’s mind. Oh yeah, ‘cause he’s too damn cute. That put a smile on his face and got him moving.

He grabbed the back of a chair and set it in front of Naruto; he straddled it backwards and rested his arms on the back. His chin nestled comfortably on his arms, he grinned at the dejected blond in front of him. “Could you be any cuter? Have you ever tried?” Naruto looked up at him through his lashes in a confused, shy way. “There’s my answer.” Shika grinned wider.

“Stop making fun of me. This is serious.” Naruto whined a little. He looked very disgruntled when Shikamaru laughed out right.

“Can you tell me what’s serious about it?”

Shikamaru’s voice sounded belittling in Naruto’s ears. It hurt, it cut straight through him. “What do you mean? Do you just go around randomly paralyzing guys in dressing rooms, kissing them? Is this some sick joke?”

He could hear the pain in Naruto’s voice and he bled a little inside, but he continued. “Really, what do you want to happen here? What do you want from me?” Shika asked a little too placidly.

Naruto’s head shot up. There were tears spilling over the lashes of those deep blue eyes. “Nothing, forget it. It never happened.” He was seething inside. He wanted to punch the impassive face less than a foot from his.

“Then, why the tears?” Shika met those stormy blue eyes with his cool dark ones. I really am a bastard.

“Damn you.” Naruto hissed. “Damn you, you bastard.” He was careful to keep from yelling. Their room was separated from the others on this side of the hall by the women’s shower room and the men’s shower was across from them, so the chances of anyone hearing them were low.

Naruto wasn’t taking any chances. He was humiliated that he’d seen this as something it wasn’t, regardless of all the signals Shika had given him to believe as he had. He didn’t want anyone else to find out, so yelling and beating the crap out of Shikamaru really wasn’t an option.

“What is it Naruto? Why are you so upset?” His tone was soo mild, it was infuriating.

“You wanna know?! Fine, I actually thought you were looking for more than a cheap thrill at kissing a dude! Stupid me! I thought our friendship meant more to you than that! I thought…….” His voice dropped along with his head. “I thought that you’d never be the type to intentionally hurt anyone.”

“I’ve hurt you.” It wasn’t a question or a statement, it just was. He lifted Naruto’s head with by placing a slender finger under his chin. “Now, maybe you’re ready to listen to me.” Suspicious eyes full of frustrated tears blinked at him.

“I didn’t tell you that we should keep it between us, because I’m ashamed. I know quite a few ninja who are great at their jobs, great guys, and totally gay.” Naruto gawked. “Yes, I said ‘gay’.” He smiled softly at Naruto’s shocked expression. It’s starting to sink in now.

“I would gladly let everyone know that you were mine. That is, if you even want to be. But, I don’t think other people would react well, at least not at first. I don’t want any added stress in this. We both need to figure out if this will even work for us, way before we start waving a flag that says ‘look here, we’re queer’.” Naruto giggled at that and covered his mouth with his hand. “Now, is there anything you want to ask me? Anything is fair game. I want total honesty between us from now on.”

Naruto was still reeling. Gay. Wow, how’d I skip over that little fact?! Knew I wanted him, but still didn’t think of it as gay. It just felt normal, felt right. He was still listening to Shika, but only halfway. His mind was processing a lot of different info. O.k., he admitted to himself with trepidation. I’m gay. He waited a minute, but got no reaction from himself. Huh, that was easy.

The smile Naruto gave him was blinding. “I’m gay. We’re gay.” He made the statement sound like a revelation.

“Um, yeah. We are.” Shika said calmly, it was really difficult to keep from smiling in a condescending way. Duh!

“So, what happens now?” Naruto’s eagerness was a little scary sometimes.

“Well, that’s what I was saying. It’s kind of up to you. I need to know what you want from me. What you expect from this.”

Shikamaru’s earlier questions came back to him. ‘What do you want to happen here? What do you want from me?’

“Oh…” His mouth formed the perfect little circle. Yep, way too cute for me. I’m screwed. Shikamaru laughed in his head. He waited patiently, while Naruto thought it over.

“Can I ask questions first?” Only if you stop biting your lip, all sexy like that. Damn, this is going to be difficult.

“Yes.”

“Have you ever kissed, um, anyone before, um, me?” Oh great, now he’s blushing, again. I really need some help here! Shika cried to any spirits that might be listening, praying for restraint.

“No.”

“What? Not even Ino?!”

“No.”

“Then how’d you know what to do, like you did?” Naruto was incredulous. He was so thrown by Shika’s admission that he had jumped up onto his knees on the bed. He looked like a little kitten…..Stop that! Shika berated himself for impure thoughts of cute cuddly….purring……Stop it!

“I spend a lot of time working as a strategist for different teams and I spend a lot of time at the mission office, around a lot of older ninja. I hear a lot of things….” He looked Naruto straight in his perfectly flushed face. “My gift is figuring things out based on limited Intel, right?” he quirked an eyebrow meaningfully. Naruto blushed more.

“Besides, a lot of it is just, instinct.” He shrugged his shoulders and rested his head on his arms again. He looked soo handsome. Naruto giggled at that and put both arms behind his head. It was a subconscious movement. He’d done that as long as Shikamaru had known him.

“So, have you ever wanted to kiss anyone else, before?”

“No.”

“Oh, come on!”

“The answer is ‘No’. What about you?” Naruto’s arms dropped at Shika’s question.

“I used to think that I wanted to kiss Sakura, but I really didn’t. I just wanted her to see me. To recognize me, ya’ know, like I was worth something. I confused wanting to be seen, for wanting something that I really didn’t.”

“Yeah, I know. Everyone’s always taken it for granted that Ino and I would be a couple. I never really thought about it too much. It seemed kind of inevitable.” He sighed and laid his right cheek on his arms. “Then I started thinking about the practical side of, well the physical side of things and Ino just wasn’t what I wanted.”

“When I figured it out all the way, I decided to tell her the truth. It just didn’t seem fair for me to know and her not to. It was hard to do. She was like me, even though she’s had her crushes, she always kind of thought of me as the one who would always be there for her.”

“How’d she take it, when you told her?” Naruto wondered, Why do I feel guilty somehow?

“She cried and didn’t speak to me for a few weeks. She still thinks that there is some other girl. I didn’t tell her everything. I couldn’t. I couldn’t hurt her that much all at once.”

He sighed again and moved so that his forehead rested on his arms. “You really don’t know how bad she is about looks and attraction and stuff. Telling her that I found you more attractive than her, well, you can’t even imagine it.”

“You were attracted to me then? Wait, when was this?”

Shika raised his head and looked him dead in the eye. “It’s been six almost seven months since I admitted it to myself. I told her almost five months ago.” Naruto was floored. He just sat there opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, gasping for air.

“That’s why I need to know what you want, how you feel. I know, it’s not fair, I’ve had months to think about it, but I need some kind of an answer. I need to know how to be around you from here on in.”

“You tell me what you want and how you feel. Let me think it over a little. Then I think I could answer your questions, you know…better.”

Shika sat up straighter and shook his head. “I don’t want my answers to taint yours. Nothin’ doin’.” Naruto was head strong most of the time, but he had a kind heart. He liked to please other people. Shika couldn’t stand it if he had to wonder what Naruto’s true motives were. Naruto shot him a nasty look and he had to laugh a little.

“Oh fine. Let’s unpack some of our stuff, while I think, o.k.?!” It really wasn’t a question. Naruto taking charge was an interesting sight. Shika had seen this side of him a few times tonight, but this was the most amusing.

Thanks for the reviews. Taking a minute to answer some questions.

AngelicChaos - I am planning to do the lemon for Missions and Hearts real soon. To explain, Abstract was my first fanfic ever. It ended up being huge and I ended up writing Missions and KaKitty while trying to finish it. Missions was my second fic and I chickened out on the lemon. I finally had the nerve to write one when I did KaKitty. So, I am going to go back and pick Missions back up. I'm also already planning a sequel to this one.

chanii - I am planning a sidefic to this that is nejikiba, but they aren't actually together in this. Sorry. I love them too!

Thanks everyone!