Geniusly Compatible

Summery: The sequel to ‘More than a Genius.’ Neji and Shikamaru decide to continue what had started on their last mission, but what exactly is one supposed to 'do' on a date with Hyuuga Neji? Shikamaru will have to find out the hard way...



This story is a continuation of ‘More than a Genius,’ to avoid confusion please read it first! This it is unbeta'd and full of errors, so please forgive the bad grammaticals.

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Ch.2 Teacher Trouble



The four Jounin’s spirits were high and their faces flushed after a successful return from an A-Class mission. The Jounin consisted of Hatake Kakashi, Shiranui Genma, and (to both Shikamaru’s and Neji’s terror) Sarutobi Asuma and Maito Gai.



Too late, their old Genin teachers spotted them before the younger shinobi had a chance to duck behind the bar.



“Shikamaru, my boy!” Asuma strode up to greet the reluctant Nara. “Fancy seeing you here, I thought that you didn’t drink!”



“I don’t.” Shikamaru mumbled and considered trying to hide behind his teacup.



“Hyuuga Neji!” Maito Gai pointed dramatically at his former student, who cringed visibly. “It makes my heart swell with joy to see a dedicated former student of mine is finally taking time off to socialize with his comrades!” The Green Beast beamed with pride. “I remember back when you were a wee one, you were always so uptight and never took time off to enjoy your youth!” Gai’s teeth sparkled at the words, blinding Neji.



‘Not again...’ Neji buried his face into his hands.



Off in the sidelines, Genma and Kakashi observed the two former students embarrassing dilemma with wry amusement. “Should we rescue them?” Genma asked his silent companion.



“Nah,” The one eyed Jounin closed his book and smirked. “I’m having too much fun watching them squirm in their seats.”



“Same here.” Genma returned the grin.



“Hey now, what’s this?” Asuma picked up Shikamaru’s teacup to inspect its contents. “This is no drink to order in a bar!” he cried, tossing the tea away. “Bartender! Bring us a bottle of house’s sake!”



“No, please Asuma!” Shikamaru pleaded. “I don’t drink!”



“Nonsense!” Asuma clapped the Nara’s back, nearly knocking him off his stool. “This is a call for a celebration! I hear that both you and Neji had returned from a rather tough mission, we should toast to your good fortune for coming back home in one piece!” Gleefully, he poured a sake cup for his former student.



Shikamaru tried to protest once again, though his voice sounded feeble in his ears. “Asuma-san, its not that I don’t appreciate the offer–”



“Here, drink up!” Asuma shoved the cup into the Nara’s hands. “And I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” The bearded Jounin raised his sake cup. “Kompai!”



“Kompai.” Shikamaru echoed unhappily, and took a gulp of the strong brew.



Meanwhile, Neji was trying to make himself smaller in his seat as Gai’s boisterous voice rang loud and clear throughout the bar for everyone to hear. “Do you remember that goat herding mission years ago? The one where that billy goat head butted you into the swamp?”



“Nooo.” Neji replied miserably, hoping that Gai would take the hint and shut up.



Maito Gai did no such thing. “Hoho! That was a day to remember! That old billy goat charged straight at your behind as you were adjusting your shoe!” Gai laughed. “It took us hours to pull you out from that muck, and you took that stinky stink all the way with you back to Konoha! Ahh, such wonderful memories that only Youth and an ornery goat can bring us!”



‘Oh gods, please make it stop!’ Neji smacked his forehead against the table.



Shikamaru nudged the empty sake bottle away. “Please Asuma, I can’t (hic) drink anymore!” He hiccuped and felt his cheeks, which were beginning to feel warm.



Asuma chuckled and inspected the empty bottle, he did not appear to have hear his reluctant drinking buddy. “Eh? You drank the whole bottle by yourself?” He cracked open a new bottle and refilled Shikamaru’s cup. “You need to learn to pace yourself, my boy!”



“That kid sure has a healthy glow about him.” Genma remarked, gesturing to Shikamaru, who was having trouble keeping his balance in his seat.



Kakashi peered closely at the Nara. “Looks more like he’s gonna hurl.”



As if on cue, Shikamaru shot off his stool and ran for the door. But his coordination was severely impaired due to his alcohol induced state. In his disorientation, he swayed off course and crashed into several chairs and a few patrons before stopping to vomit all over an unoccupied table next to the wall.



“Shit!” Neji leapt off to assist his companion. In no time, the Hyuuga had dragged Shikamaru out the door to finish his unpleasant business outside.



Kakashi lifted his visible eyebrow at the bearded Jounin. “You should’ve stopped refilling his cup so fast.”



“He seemed to be doing so well!” Asuma replied, a bit ashamed. “He could have just said that he didn’t want to drink.”



A few minutes later, a pale hand opened the door. “I think that Shikamaru has had enough for tonight.” Neji’s face appeared from behind the door, looking grim. “I’ll make sure that he gets home alright” his head bobbed in a curt bow before he shut the door. “So sorry for the trouble.”



After a brief pause, Asuma cursed. “Damn, I feel terrible about all this!” he grumbled and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.



“But who’s going to clean this up?” Gai pointed to the nasty mess that covered the table and part of the wall. “It would be unjust to just leave it like this!”



“Yeah,” Genma shook his head. “It would be an awful shame...”



“I don’t want to touch it.” Kakashi declared, then turned to his comrades. “Do any of you?”



The other three Jounin looked away and shuffled their feet uncomfortably. None of them wanted to go home reeking of sake barf.



They finally settled on leaving a rather generous tip on a clean spot on the soiled table, along with a “We’re very sorry for the mess” hastily scrawled on a napkin with a crayon. The four Jounin guiltily shuffled out the door as quickly as possible. They avoided the dark glares directed at them by the bartender that had witnessed the entire event.



None of the Jounin had any intention of visiting that particular bar anytime soon.



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In a dark alley, Neji was having the same thoughts as he supported Shikamaru from falling over as another bout of nausea wrecked through him. The Nara was persistent on stumbling off course to crash into trash cans and telephone poles. Once, he stepped on an unsuspecting cat that screeched quite loudly into the night. Shikamaru would mumble out his apologies rather loudly, causing Neji to grit his teeth in embarrassment at the ruckus he continued to make. More than once, lights were turned on inside houses and angry cursing were directed to them from open windows.



Finally, they reached Shikamaru’s apartment. “Almost there.” Neji reassured his companion. “Watch out for the stairs.” The Hyuuga had to practically drag Shikamaru up the second story.



Once they had reached the door, Shikamaru had to lean against the wall in order to search for his keys without falling over. The situation ended up with Neji digging into Shikamaru’s vest pockets to find the right key.



Inside, the studio apartment contained all the signs of being a well lived in place: a small bookshelf overflowed with reading materials of all type, weapons and cleaning kits covered the single night stand, two piles of clothing laid strewn on the floor (no doubt ‘dirty’ and ‘clean’ piles) and one very large and inviting bed dominated the studio space.



Shikamaru stumbled towards the bed and, not bothering to take off his shoes or vest, flung himself on top of it. He groaned and covered his face with his hands. “I feel so crappy” he wearily complained. “Why won’t the spinning stop?”



“You’re not supposed to drink an entire bottle of sake under five minutes.” Neji chuckled.



“Asuma wouldn’t stop pouring me more!” Shikamaru rubbed his bleary eyes and blinked up at the Hyuuga who was standing by the door. “Are you leaving?”



“I’m about to.” Neji turned and reached for the door. “I’ll see you around. Good night, Shikamaru.”



“Neji– wait!” Shikamaru sat up, a note of desperation in his voice. “Won’t you stay?”



The Hyuuga regarded the Nara with a skeptical eye, Shikamaru sat swaying slightly in his seat, his eyes bright with the influence of alcohol. “Just for a little bit?” he pleaded.



Neji stiffened. “Shika, I don’t think that would be appropriate.” The Hyuuga’s voice was serious. “The alcohol’s affecting your judgement, you need to sleep it off.”



“But I can’t sleep!” Shikamaru slouched over. “Ever since I came back from the hospital, I’ve been afraid to sleep” his lower lip trembled as emotion threatened to overtake him. “The nightmares keep waking me up.”



The Hyuuga’s brow furrowed in concern. “Nightmares? You mean, like back on the mission?”



Shikamaru nodded, his face downcast with defeat. “I’m still so worried about you, I can’t...I–I mean, I’m afraid that I...I...”



Neji smiled in understanding .”You want me to stay for a while, just until you fall asleep?”



Shikamaru nodded and rolled over on the bed to allow his companion room. “Thank you.”



Not liking shoes on the bed, Neji first tugged off his and Shikamaru’s shoes before he slipped in besides the Nara on the spacious bed. “I see why you spend most of your time sleeping” he joked. “Its very comfortable.” Receiving no reply, the Hyuuga craned his neck to see that his companion had turned away on his side, and was snoring softly.



Neji sighed, and tapped one foot on the mattress. It seemed a shame to get up so soon after reassuring Shikamaru that he’d stay for a while. Neji’s pale eyes glanced at the alarm clock situated on the windowsill. ‘I’ll give it another five minutes.’ Lolled by the softness of the bed and the rhythmic sound of Shikamaru’s breathing, Neji’s eyes slowly closed and he drifted off to sleep.



TBC



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Man oh man, I grounded this out pretty fast! I gotta say that the whole ‘barf on the table, leave a crayon apology on a napkin and a large tip’ incident really did happen (but not to me, thankfully!) Unfortunately, a goat really did headbutt my ass into the marsh once, and boy was it stinky! So I made Neji suffer the indignity of being unable to dodge a goat (smirk)



Please R/R!