Stimulus, Response

Title: “Stimulus, Response”

Author: antilogicgirl

Universe: A side-story to “Radio Tokyo”

Series: Naruto

Pairing: Shikamaru/Karin



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Author’s Notes: You know, I guess that sometimes, it isn’t about love. We all prefer it to be, I’m sure, but it happens sometimes that it’s for relief, or consolation, or God knows what. But just once in a million times, it leads to a form of insanity that is actually more healthy than being stone sober sane any day. Enjoy Stages 3-5, and review!



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Stage 3: Response



Another hiss came from her left, and Karin held back a sigh. Men. Why did they never want to admit that they needed help? If there was ever a man that needed assistance, it was the anal-retentive asshole she’d been forced to work with. He was currently struggling though his gram-stain production, since he was having trouble with holding the inoculating loop still while he burned the remaining bacteria off of it. Shikamaru even had trouble entering the results into the computer, so great was the pain in his hand. But he would not ask her for help.



He had to be the most stubborn man she’d ever met. The idiot probably had at least nicked a tendon, and he was only making it worse. But that was only the tip of the iceberg, as far as Karin saw it. In reality, every problem he had, from his abnormal aggression levels to the cuts on his hand, originated with one thing. Shikamaru needed to get laid in the worst way. If she knew anyone that would oblige without complaint, she would sneak her phone away from him and dial his or her number right away. Karin had absolutely no compunction about such things.



As she understood life, it was far too short to waste on walking around with a stick up your ass. And the stick that was jammed up his rectal cavity must be the size of a Buick. While she contemplated finding him the name of a good proctologist, Karin finished the last of her gram-stain slides. Though she’d rushed through the last few, they were complete, and all that remained was to glue down the slide covers. The sooner she finished with that, the sooner she could force Shikamaru to stop fumbling through his work and let her help him.



“Damn!”



Looking over at Shikamaru, Karin nearly heaved another sigh. The crystal violet stain had spilled, right down the front of his otherwise spotless white lab coat, and he was about to wipe at it with his bandaged hand. “Don’t even think about it,” she said as she got up, quickly grabbing his hand. After bumping him smoothly out of the way, she checked to see if any of the purple liquid could be salvaged. Luckily, only half of it had spilled, and once the cap was replaced, it was set down well out of Shikamaru’s reach. Paper towels and a bit of all-purpose cleaner took care of the mess on the floor and counter, where some of the stuff had spilled, but there was still the issue of the coat, and whatever might be beneath.



Karin moved toward him, intent on removing the coat herself, but he tried to slap her hands away. A second attempt was thwarted as well, but finally she’d had enough. Catching both of Shikamaru’s wrists, she gripped them tightly, “Stop it, Shikamaru. I warned you already. You need to see a doctor. If I catch you doing anything more complicated than scratching your goddamned nose with that hand, I’ll drag you down to the Health Center myself, but you’ll have a few more injuries, as well.”



Suddenly, Shikamaru stopped struggling against her. He had a very strange look on his face, as if seeing her for the first time. “Okay,” he mumbled, dropping his arms. Karin let go of him, and then unbuttoned his coat, pushing it off of his shoulders and reaching around him to collect the soiled cloth. She completely disregarded his silence, since he was probably just pouting at being told what to do, and more so because she was actually right about this.



The stain on his coat had grown in the few moments it took to make him be still, and she shook her head at it. “That’s not going to come out in the wash,” Karin said as she pushed her glasses up on top of her head. “You’ll probably have to get a new one.” Carefully, she folded the lab coat, and set it next to his bag. When she turned around, it was to find him staring at her.



“What?” she asked, wondering exactly what she had on her face to make him look at her for such a prolonged period of time.



His eyes were liquid black yet somehow sharp, watching her as she moved past him. He was acting strangely. Was he delirious? Too much time in the lab inhaling chemicals? He didn’t answer her either, which only made her more uncomfortable. Karin busied herself with putting away the paper towels and the spray bottle of cleanser, all the while feeling those eyes on her back. The feeling of being watched continued for a moment before abating when she went back to gluing down the slide covers. Now labeled and covered, the slides only needed to dry overnight before Shikamaru could analyze their contents.



Karin arranged all twenty slides on a tray and set them on another counter before making the attempt to bully Shikamaru into letting her work on his half of the slides. But just when she was going to walk over to the counter again, she realized that he looked like he’d slept in his clothes.



The blue button-down shirt he wore had one cuff unbuttoned, the entire shirt being exceedingly wrinkled, and his olive drab cargo pants had several ink stains on them. These were equally rumpled. Add to those things the fact that his shirt was only partially tucked in, as well as the awful state of his bright green Converse All-Star tennis shoes, and Nara Shikamaru looked more like a homeless bum than a graduate student. Had he slept in his clothes, or had he slept at all? Now that she thought about it, there were dark circles beneath his eyes. That did it. He needed a break, and he was going to get one whether he wanted it or not.



When Karin gracefully slid onto his stool, taking over his work, Shikamaru protested. “What do you think you’re you doing?”



She fixed him with a wry glance. “I’m doing my job.”



“I was doing that.” He grumped, sounding quite petulant.



Karin sighed. It was time for a real truce. She didn’t want what happened to Professor Orochimaru to happen to Shikamaru. “Yes, you were,” turning on the stool, she said gently, “but if you’re going to get any sleep at all, I need to do this. You’re not exactly operating at a hundred percent right now.” Besides, she thought, that was sort of my fault anyway…



There were times, she could admit, that she did go a little far in poking fun, or annoying people for her own amusement. She couldn’t really help it if she enjoyed a challenge, and Shikamaru had been fun to rile up. But after Professor Orochimaru’s lab accident, and Shikamaru showing the potential for the same type of behavior, Karin truly thought better of any smart-assed comments that cropped up in her head. Of course, Orochimaru had been a little off-kilter to begin with, but that was beside the point. She was just going to have to make a conscious effort to better her people skills.



Shikamaru nodded, taking up a seat nearby to watch her work. Every now and again, he would give instructions, but he never tried to touch anything she was working on. Half an hour later, Shikamaru began shifting in his seat. From the corner of her eye, she could tell he was getting restless. “If you’re bored, you could always go home and get some sleep,” she said, trying not to sound too bossy.



Immediately, he snapped, “I’m not leaving you alone.”



As she allowed a few drops of saffranin stain to fall onto the slide she was working on, Karin smiled. “Don’t you trust me?”



“No,” came the flat reply.



One of her eyebrows rose slightly, as did her tone, “Why not? I might be a bitch, but I know what I’m doing.” She rinsed the slide with distilled water before drying it over the burner.



“I can see that.” He grumbled. “But I’m still not leaving you alone here. This is my research—“



She couldn’t help scoffing slightly. “Yes, yes. You’ve told me that. But you know, I think you really need to relax.” There was a snort from where he sat, but she pressed the point a little. “What do you do in your spare time?”



After a short pause, during which she labeled the slide, he said, “I don’t have spare time.”



“None?” the slide joined the others on their tray, and she turned her head to look at him. He shook his head. “You should make time. One day a week, at the very least, when you can do nothing other than relax.”



“That’s easy for you to say. You’re just a—“



Both of Karin’s eyebrows rose suddenly, and her back went ramrod straight as she interrupted the insult she felt coming. “A what? Just a stupid undergraduate? Have you seen the pre-med curriculum? I’ve got more shit to memorize than you could possibly imagine. They cram so much into my head that sometimes I can feel it draining out of my ears! I make time for myself because it’s the only way I can stay sane.”



He was staring at her again. Of course, maybe he’d sensed what she didn’t say. Karin had not finished that thought, actually. What she had not said was that she did not want to end up like him. He was so tense, she thought he might snap in two if she touched him. A thought occurred to her after a moment of feeling his intense gaze on her as she fitted the first of the slides with a cover. “What are your plans after I’m done?”



“I have some research—“



“No…that won’t do.” Karin waved a hand dismissively, simply talking over him until he stopped. “No, Shikamaru. You’re going to come with me.”



His eyes grew to approximately the size of teacups as he sputtered, “I most certainly will—“



Again, she cut him off. “So glad you agree,” Her voice was pleasant and cheerful, “and I think I know the perfect way to relax you.”



--



Stage 4: Catalyst



“I thought I was supposed to see a doctor?” Shikamaru asked, looking hatefully at the beer that sat in front of him. Karin rolled her eyes, sipping at her own beverage. It was a frothy spiked hot chocolate, but Shikamaru had said he didn’t want anything sweet.



“Drink your beer.”



“I don’t want it,” he growled, crossing his arms over his chest.



“Drink it.”



A muscle under his eye began to twitch. “I told you, I’m not drinking it, woman.”



“The name is Karin, Shikamaru. Now drink your goddamned beer before I make you.” She was glaring at him over the rim of her cup, and something in her eyes made him pick up the mug, gulping at the room-temperature Guinness. “Now, there’s a good boy,” she smiled. He was only halfway done with the glass when she ordered him another.



Slamming the glass onto the table when he’d consumed all of its contents, he panted, “Why am I doing this?”



“To relax,” was her simple reply. He contemplated his second beer once it arrived, watching the bubbles at the bottom of the beer’s head. “Drink it,” she said in a sing-song voice.



--



“What the hell? Are you trying to get me drunk?” He goggled at her as she pushed the beer at him. It was probably going to take a lot of alcohol to get him as drunk as he needed to be. By Karin’s estimation, for him to actually relax, Shikamaru was going to have to be plastered.



--



Nodding, she polished off her own drink. “That’s precisely what I’m doing. Now drink up.” Shikamaru did as ordered, hoping that massive amounts of alcohol would make her presence more bearable. Karin ordered herself another drink, along with one for him, as well. “How’s your beer?”



“Good.” He said, starting to feel slightly lightheaded. It had been close to eight hours since he’d eaten, and after chugging two beers, and starting to sip his third, Shikamaru was fast developing a buzz. Soon, his mouth curled upward into a slight smile, and the crease between his eyebrows relaxed. By the time he’d finished his third beer, he was leaning on the table, patiently waiting for his fourth one while he idly watched the ceiling fan blowing a few strands of hair across Karin’s cheek.



She’d taken off her glasses, and put them in her purse. In his opinion, Karin looked very different without them. Even though she still had her ponytail, Shikamaru thought that she seemed very different. Since he’d cut himself earlier, Karin had been so nice…he thought at first she might be up to something. Now, as he felt quite warm and content, he realized that she had been right. He needed to relax. How long had it been since he’d just let go?



God, it must be years. By the end of his fourth beer, he got to thinking about other things she’d said. Karin had said that he needed to get laid. Starting to sip beer number five, his eyes slid half-shut, and Shikamaru pondered just how long it had been since that event had occurred. Well, let’s see…that would have been…um…hell, it can’t have been that good if you don’t remember it. He thought it was something like five or six years ago.



Thinking about sex while he was intoxicated was always a bad idea. Invariably, it led to some very unsatisfying masturbation, which was singularly depressing. But right now, it was even worse, because his thoughts centered on sex with the least likely of people. Behind his eyelids, he saw visions of pale skin, of his fingers gripping a handful of bright red hair, and a slender neck that he could mark to his heart’s content.



Beer number five became a tequila shot, and suddenly his visions became more involved. Skin slid against skin, and Karin’s voice was no longer annoying, as all it could do was moan his name. After another shot of tequila, he didn’t care that they were sitting so close to one another anymore. Karin laughed when he nearly ended up wearing his third shot, while she had taken hers perfectly. “Pussy,” she jeered, leaning toward him tipsily. “You’re shit-faced.”



“Am not,” he slurred, reaching for another of the shots that somehow kept appearing on the table. The stuff didn’t even burn now. What was that? Shot number four? It might have been five. Karin was giggling, leaning against his shoulder and holding another shot. He could feel her body heat through his clothes. Was it just him, or were his pants suddenly too small?



--



“A toast!” she cried, thinking that her voice was sounding just a tad too girlish, “A toast!”



Shikamaru grabbed a shot from the table, and raised it. Then he stopped, “What are we toasting?” Karin couldn’t help but smile. He was getting pretty drunk, but it might be a little while yet before she could pour him into a cab.



--



Her face turned toward him, and a smile drew her lips upward. Shikamaru thought he might be going insane, but that pink tinge her face had from the alcohol was making her look quite pretty. Lifting one hand, she poked the end of his nose with a fingertip. “You,” she said, “you finally relaxed.” With a slight chuckle, she added, “You’re not half bad like this. I think I like you better drunk.”



“Ditto.” He said, tapping her glass with his, “All kinds of things look better right now.” He swallowed the mouthful of tequila while slamming the glass upside-down on the table. “Karin,” he said, he voice trailing off.



“Hm?” came the inquisitive sound.



Shifting slightly in his seat, he turned more of his body toward Karin. “I gotta tell you something.” She nodded, looking at him seriously, wavering slightly. “I’m pretty fucked up…”



Giggling, she said, “Yeah, I can tell.”



Shikamaru shook his head vehemently, and then steadied himself against the ensuing dizziness. “No, no…you don’t understand.” He reached out with the hand that wasn’t bandaged, taking her hand gently and settling it in his lap. Her eyes widened when he pressed the palm of her hand into the bulge that had long since begun to form there. “When I’m drunk, I get very…” he leaned toward Karin, feeling her tense slightly as his voice lowered to a rather husky growl, “…very…” Shikamaru’s nose brushed against hers slightly before his tongue flicked out, wetting her lips, “…aroused…”



“And?” She was trying to sound normal, like she didn’t care that she had a handful of something that she might not be able to handle, but Shikamaru could hear that little hitch in her voice that said she was interested.



--



A note of mischief had threaded its way into his voice as he said, “And you said I can’t do anything complicated with my hand…but that’s the hand I use…to touch myself.” Shikamaru’s lips grazed over hers, and she felt herself begin tremble slightly. Maybe he wasn’t the only one on the tipsy side? Karin started thinking bad, bad thoughts, though somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered what had brought on this behavior in Shikamaru. Her hand, still held fast with his, could feel the blood pulsing through his groin, slowly bringing his arousal to full hardness, right under her fingertips. His breath was hot as it blew across her lips, murmuring words that sent heat through her in a frightening jolt. “I haven’t…touched a woman…in a long time, Karin…” Her grip tightened involuntarily as the muscles in her hand gave a spasm out of nervousness, and he groaned aloud against her mouth. “Ah…”



--



Karin’s other hand shot out, gripping the collar of his shirt, and shoving him backward. At first, Shikamaru was dazed, the sudden motion making him think she’d pushed him out of the booth. When the world stopped spinning, he was being dragged down the street. “Karin,” he said unsteadily, “where are we going?”



Without turning around, she said, “My apartment. It’s close…”



After what might have been five more minutes of walking, Karin turned sharply, and pushed through a wrought iron gate that blocked off an alleyway. He followed, up a flight of stairs, down a hallway, and waited while she turned the key in the lock. When the door opened, he saw nothing but blackness for some time. They stumbled through the apartment, Karin leading the way through the dark. Finally, she seemed to find the place she’d been looking for. A switch clicked, and Shikamaru saw a glimpse of dark blue walls before he was shoved backward onto something large, flat, and soft.



He could feel her hands work at the buttons of his shirt as she straddled his hips, grinding down against his erection. When Karin’s fingers proved too clumsy for the little pearly buttons, she simply ripped the thing open, and he could hear at least two of the plastic fasteners ricochet off of the walls. Then something hot and wet was sucking at his left nipple, and hands were unbuckling his belt, popping open the button on his pants, sliding down the zipper…



Shikamaru felt a light nip at his sternum, and his good hand reached up, finding a head full of silky hair. Tangling his fingers in it, he pulled, and brought Karin’s face up toward his. “You’re pretty good at that. Can I try?”



A low, husky laugh escaped her throat before soft, yet demanding lips collided with his, yielding only when his tongue pressed forward to explore warm wetness. Breaking the kiss, Karin groaned, “You’re out of practice…”



In response, he growled, “It’s like riding a bike,” before using a hefty amount of upper body strength to reverse their positions. “You never really forget.” Pressing his hips down, he could feel heat waiting, and his arousal pulsed. Shikamaru forced her shirt up over her breasts, leaving it to gather there, and her bra met the same fate. He took a dusky brown nipple into his mouth, sucking hard and drawing a deep moan from the woman beneath him.



Continuing this treatment, he let one hand creep up her leg, sneaking under her skirt until his fingers found the edge of lacy underwear. Being careful of his injured hand, he lifted her legs up, tugging her panties to her knees, but no further. Shikamaru bit at the taut flesh in his mouth and slipped one finger between smooth, hairless folds of skin to find that waiting heat and wetness. Karin cried out, her hands tangling in his hair, pulling out his hair tie, pressing his face against her breast as her hips rocked into his hand.



--



She couldn’t remember making the conscious decision to do this. But she also couldn’t bring herself to care. His fingers probed inside her, thrusting ever harder and Karin couldn’t help herself. Her hips moved with him, against him as pleasure spiked through her body. Shikamaru’s mouth was doing things that should be illegal, and Karin cried out as he drove her harder toward what was promising to be one hell of a climax.



--



The combination of alcohol, five plus years of self-deprivation, and the wanton display Karin was making very nearly sent him over the edge. He held it back, though, because she arched her back, moaning and begging, “Please…” her voice rising with each word, “…please…I…need…” until finally she said it, “…you…”



Unable to wait long enough to remove his pants, or even to push them down, Shikamaru simply tugged at the waistband of his boxer shorts, just enough to free his erection before pushing Karin’s knees up. After waiting five years and then some, Shikamaru would have thought that he would just shove himself forward in haste, but he moved slowly, so slowly that he could feel her heartbeat. So slowly that Karin whimpered, begging for him to just fuck her already, but he’d be damned if it would be over quickly. In a way, it was his way of torturing her.



After all, hadn’t she tortured him? Yes, she’d driven him to distraction, nearly caused him to strangle her. Now, he held her firmly in place, forcing her to endure as he took his time, sliding himself in inch by maddening inch. When his hips touched hot, moist skin, Shikamaru forced her legs apart violently, hearing lace rip as he destroyed her underwear. Pulling back just as slowly, he allowed her to believe that he would continue to explore the textures and heat he was now buried in. Her contented sigh was interrupted when he slammed himself back down so hard that her scream sent a shock of white-hot pleasure up and down his spine.



He heard his name over and over and over again, echoing off of the midnight blue walls, drowning out his own gasps of pleasure. The sounds of fists banging on the wall, and voices raised and yelling for them to ‘fuck more quietly’ went completely unheeded. Karin only screamed louder, her back arching in an impossibly bend as she seemed to approach orgasm. But just when he thought he was safe, Shikamaru found himself lying flat on his back.



Taking a moment to discard her shirt and bra, as well as her skirt, Karin bent low, giving a brief lick at the tip of his erection before straddling his hips. Vaguely aware that he was still fully clothed, but not caring in the least, he could only focus on the way the pleasure shot up his spine in brutal bursts. He watched the muscles of her stomach flex as she wrung sensations from him that he had not experienced in far too long.



Forcing himself into a sitting position, Shikamaru wrapped one arm around Karin’s waist, the other snaking under her arm and up, to grip at her shoulder. She rose up, and he pulled hard with both arms, forcing himself deep inside, and again she screamed, this time a completely wordless, hoarse wail that sent heat coiling through his stomach. For a few minutes, she was silent, but he found that he wanted to hear her again. If she screamed like that a few more times, he just knew he would fly apart at the seams. Shikamaru sank teeth into her neck, sucking hard and hearing an absolutely delicious moan. He was quickly becoming addicted to the erotic sounds she made as he buried himself inside her over and over again, each moan and sigh more potent than any drug he had experimented with.



“Scream for me,” he panted, pulling down hard again and driving upward into her at the same time, and the result was spectacular. Karin’s back arched sharply, her eyes closing and one more loud cry of his name filled his ears, degrading into soft whimpers of continued pleasure.



He could feel the muscles inside her ripple as her orgasm rocked her body, could hear her whisper, “C-Coming…oh, God…coming so hard…” That was all he needed to finally find his release. The sensation, while always intense, was overtly so as he gathered Karin into his arms, holding on for dear life as his world fell down.



Stage 5: Analysis and Report



Light pricked at the backs of her eyelids, and Karin groaned. It couldn’t be time to get up…wasn’t it Saturday? What the hell day was it? The orangey-red faded as she slowly opened her eyes. Her entire body was sore, like she’d run a marathon. When she could focus her vision, she stifled a gasp. All she could see was smooth skin, covering the lean muscle of a masculine chest, and the indentions of defined abdominal muscles. Her eyes moved further over what she could see, and Karin saw a thin trail of dark hair, leading down to a very noticeable bulge beneath her dark blue sheets.



Reality slammed down on her like a ton of bricks, and she shut her eyes. Not real…this is not happening…



But then, the body beneath her stirred, and she heard a very familiar voice. “Karin…are you awake?”



Shit…shit, shit shit! Resisting the urge to bolt out of the bed and to the bathroom, she raised her head and peered through her hair at Shikamaru. His eyes, like ink yet somehow warmer, fixed on her face, and would not let her look away, no matter how much she might want to. He smiled, and she was sure that her stomach did some kind of gymnastic maneuver reminiscent of a somersault.



Karin could feel one of his hands tracing her shoulder blade, and it felt better than she thought it had any right to. He said quietly, “I’m going to have to go home soon…”



“Okay,” she said hesitantly, peeling herself away from his bare skin, and feeling much colder for the loss. But strong hands pulled her close again, warmth making her stomach tingle. She gasped in surprise.



“Not just yet,” he said, leaning over and brushing his lips over hers in a way that made her stomach do that evil jump again, “But soon.”



--



He couldn’t help it if this felt good. Shikamaru didn’t want to leave. After five years, he’d almost forgotten what this was like. Soft flesh pressed against his, hair spilling over one shoulder and tickling his cheek, and that strange sensation bordering on utter contentment at being completely sated…it was a feeling he could get used to. In fact, he was hoping to.



Half an hour earlier, he’d woken up. At first, there was the initial shock. Of course there was. The beer and tequila had hazed his memory a little, but what he did catch onto was good enough for him. Shikamaru’s fingers couldn’t get enough of the way her skin felt when he barely touched it, letting his hands glide over the silky smooth flesh.



This was irrational. It was completely, and totally against every normal and sane bone in his body. But when her breath hitched as his lips touched his, Shikamaru was willing to suspend rationality. If only during the times he was with Karin like this, he could afford to be insane. His mouth pressed against hers, and her reaction was instantaneous.



Karin moaned into his mouth, her hand sliding up his chest and into his hair. Her nakedness slid against him, and he held back a groan. For long moments, the kiss raged, fire coiling inside him like a burning snake until he pushed her away. “Later,” he whispered, nipping at her lips, “I need to go home…but I’ll come back later.”



Her eyes widened, “You will?”



Shikamaru couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at his mouth. “I have a lot of time to make up for,” his voice lowered, becoming something of a growl, “and I’ve found just the perfect way to relax…” Karin smiled, and Shikamaru couldn’t help himself. He leaned in again, trapping that smile with his, holding it and keeping it for his own. Maybe I could go home later…



End.



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Author’s Note: So there you have it. The most cracked out pairing I’ve ever done. What did you think?