Shadows and Spirals

Shadows and Spirals
A Collection of Shikamaru x Naruto Shorts & Oneshots

By: ladygizarme
Beta: ren
Warning This Installment: WAFF
A/N: Well, I'm a little late (well, it’s still V-day for another hour and a half where I live, but by AFF’s clock it’s not) because my brother- and sister-in-law are visiting this weekend, but HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! (Yeah, this is my preferred way to celebrate it, writing WAFF-y ficcage. ^_^) Oh, BTW, this is inspired by, but not completely based on, the lyrics of The Beatles’ song, “If I Fell”.

If I give my heart
To you
I must be sure…

{“If I Fell” ~ The Beatles}

If I Fell:

It wasn’t anything particularly amazing that caused it. They were just sitting across from each other eating yakiniku when Naruto suddenly found himself gazing deeply at Shikamaru as the other ninja turned the meat over on the tabletop grill. As he did so, realization suddenly overwhelmed Naruto, sending an amazingly warm, happy feeling flooding through his body so quickly he gasped at the sensation. The amazed words bubbled up from his throat before he even thought them through, and he only caught up to what he was saying when he was already halfway through.

“Shikamaru, I just realized, I think I l—”

He cut himself off suddenly, eyes widening, white teeth biting into his lower lip as he blinked his blue eyes at the suddenly-curious and contemplative brown eyes that met his.

“—like… yakiniku… almost as much as ramen,” he finished lamely, averting his eyes from Shikamaru’s, looking down at the grill as his face heated with a mixture of embarrassment, confusion, and frustration with himself. He knew Shikamaru most likely realized that wasn’t really what he was going to say, but Naruto still found himself unable—unwilling—to finish it properly.

Why couldn’t he just say it? Would it be so bad, really, to tell Shikamaru how he felt? But, then again, it wasn’t like he didn’t have a reason to feel apprehensive. After all, the last person he’d said those words to ended up abandoning him (after trying to kill him). And he and Shikamaru had only been…dating, he supposed it was…for a couple months now. They weren’t even anything “official”, despite their apparent dates becoming more frequent lately. Was he really ready to say those words again, no matter how much stronger the feeling was this time? It felt completely different now than it had the last time, yet he still found his tongue tied as his jaw worked, still apparently trying to spit out the words that were now locked in his gut as he continued staring at the sizzling meat on the grilltop.

This wasn’t fair! Not to him, and definitely not to Shikamaru! He shouldn’t be letting his past cloud his newly-discovered feelings in his current relationship. Before he could continue beating himself up about it, though, a perfectly-grilled piece of meat came into his view, held between two chopsticks. He looked up quickly, his expression curious with a touch of incredulity. Was Shikamaru really doing something as sappily romantic and couple-like as feeding him? In public, no less?

Shikamaru’s eyes met Naruto’s, giving him a look Naruto couldn’t quite understand beyond realizing it had some sort of deeper meaning. Shikamaru gave him a half-shrug before answering Naruto’s unspoken questions.

“It’s troublesome to have to explain it, but don’t you think it’s not really right to compare yakiniku to ramen? They’re completely different from each other. So, rather than compare barbecue to ramen, shouldn’t you just enjoy the yakiniku for itself?”

Saying this, he pressed the grilled piece of meat directly to Naruto’s lips, which had parted as he listened to Shikamaru’s explanation. Naruto’s mouth automatically opened for the silently-but-insistently offered morsel, the wonderful flavor bursting on his tongue distracting his mind from the wondering thoughts of whether Shikamaru’s words actually had a deeper meaning, as they seemed to. Naruto gave a small, involuntary moan at the rich, perfectly-spiced taste, chewing slowly, his eyes closing as he savored it.

His eyes opened again, widening in surprise as he found Shikamaru watching him intently from across the table. His posture and body language were at their usual level of ‘lazy’—slouched a bit, chin resting in his hand as he leaned his elbow on the table, his other hand blindly picking up a new piece of meat from the grill with his chopsticks. However, Naruto wasn’t fooled by this. Shikamaru’s eyes were too intense for him to be as laid-back as he appeared; almost as if he were trying to relay the real meaning of his words and actions by telepathy, or perhaps he was simply trying to read Naruto’s mind.

Under such keen attention, Naruto couldn’t suppress the blush that suddenly heated his face, but he kept steadfastly looking into Shikamaru’s eyes this time, refusing to back down again. Really, acting shy with Shikamaru was just ridiculous and not at all in character for him. Naruto was the kind of person that met everything head-on, and that included his… love interest’s… scrutiny, or the desire for Naruto’s own attempt at telepathy to suddenly work as he tried to understand the full meaning of all that had just transpired between them.

The rest of their meal continued in silence—not uncomfortable, but definitely laced with something deeper than the average comfortable silence. When they were done eating a few minutes later, Shikamaru paid the bill—they’d agreed near the beginning to simply take turns paying for the meal, because neither wanted the other to pay all the time, but splitting the bill was “too troublesome”—and then left the restaurant, walking together at a leisurely pace through the streets of Konoha.

Their walk led them to a grassy hill near the park they used to play at as children. Shikamaru laid on the slant of the hill, arms behind his head, staring up at the white, fluffy clouds as they shifted into different shapes across the backdrop of brilliant blue that was the sky today. Naruto sat beside him, leaning back on his hands as he, too, turned his face to the sky. A tranquil smile came to his face as he watched a pirate ship change into a dragon and then into a deer. He immediately associated the deer with Shikamaru and his content smile grew into a grin.

“Oi, Shika, look! It’s—”

His words stopped abruptly, the hand he’d been using to point up at the cloud dropping back down as he turned his head to get Shikamaru’s attention, but found it wasn’t necessary as Shikamaru’s eyes were already trained on him. That look was also back in them—or maybe it had never even left. The look of curiosity that wasn’t really curious, rather wise and knowing, but in a laid back, unassuming kind of way. And… if Naruto wasn’t imagining it… there was, maybe, something else there, too. Something that suddenly made that feeling from before shoot through him again, so that Naruto found himself unconsciously leaning over to Shikamaru, not coming to his senses until he was just a breath from connecting his lips to Shikamaru’s. Then he stopped suddenly, blinking down a little confusedly into those warm, chocolate brown eyes that looked up at him so intensely. Naruto bit his lip to stop the words that wanted to spill from his lips and shifted, backing away again.

“Tch, troublesome,” Shikamaru said lowly, leaning up and stopping Naruto’s retreat with a hand to his shoulder. “Since when are you shy?” he asked, his hand sliding from Naruto’s shoulder up to his neck and pulling him back down.

Their lips met, softly at first as Naruto still felt unsure of himself and wary of his newfound feelings. Then Shikamaru’s lips pressed a little more, his fingers digging into the hair at the nape of Naruto’s neck, and his touch sent a pleasant tingle across Naruto’s skin, starting at his lips and neck and spreading through his body so quickly he forgot his insecurities and just let his instincts lead him. Naruto pressed back, one hand sliding up around Shikamaru’s neck, his other hand supporting his weight as he turned to lean more over Shikamaru. The feel of his fingertips on Shikamaru’s skin was almost as electric as Shikamaru’s touch on him, and Naruto moaned softly at the realization, again increasing the pressure of his lips against Shikamaru’s, slowly pressing the darker-haired nin back to the ground.

Shika’s fingers dug more into Naruto’s hair, keeping his hold firm and their lips connected as he again lay flat against the ground. He suddenly found himself very aware of his sense of touch, a thrill like the after-effects of a static shock racing along his skin and the nerves beneath as Naruto settled over him, the heat from his body filling the small space still between them, exciting Shikamaru like only Naruto could. As the anticipation of more contact built, Shikamaru parted his lips, uttering a low moan as Naruto’s lips also parted and he took Naruto’s lower lip between his own for a more intimate kiss.

Their mouths parted and met again, this time Naruto pulling Shikamaru’s bottom lip between his to suck on it a little. It wasn’t gentle, but Shikamaru didn’t really expect Naruto to have a lot of finesses anyway, and the roughness was accompanied by that same after-shock feeling that was still tingling through his skin, making him crave more. It made Shikamaru moan again, and when Naruto’s mouth left his only to return, Shikamaru met Naruto’s parted lips with his tongue, sliding it along the open seam of his mouth. He barely had a moment to note the taste of their recent lunch still lingering on Naruto’s lips before the thought was replaced by a buzz of pleasure singing through him when Naruto’s tongue met his and slid against it.

As soon as their tongues touched, the tingle of pleasure that had been tantalizing Naruto suddenly became a jolt; sparking through him and setting the previous amazingly warm, happy feeling ablaze within him as well. A sound somewhere between a moan and a happy growl came from his throat as Naruto deepened their kiss further, a little shocked at how good something like rubbing your tongue against another person’s could feel—especially when you already had strong feelings for them. His fingers dug into the grass and Shikamaru’s hair, leaving finger marks in the dirt and disheveling what used to be a pristinely-spiked ponytail. Shikamaru didn’t seem to care, however, as he was definitely more preoccupied with wrapping his tongue around Naruto’s, his fingers also disheveling the hair between them, stroking whatever skin they came in contact with in the process. When Naruto moaned, Shikamaru gave a sound of ascent in response, as if Naruto had been asking him a question.

Naruto felt a new wave of pleasure pour through his body at that sound, blood rushing south so fast he could almost swear he felt it racing through his veins. The realization that he was getting hard made Naruto suddenly breathless and he broke the kiss, panting heavily as he stared wide-eyed into Shikamaru’s half-lidded, brown eyes.

“Sh—Shikamaru… I…”

Still, he cut himself off. This feeling was so strong, so sudden. Could he really put his heart on the line like that again?

“Oi, Naruto,” Shikamaru said softly, getting his attention with a hand on his cheek.

Naruto blinked at him, his attention coming back to Shikamaru immediately.

“Don't be troublesome. This is also part of growing up. When you have something important to say, don’t hold back.”

Naruto blinked a few more times as Shika’s words sunk in, and as a grin of understanding spread across his lips, a knowing smirk quirked Shikamaru’s lips as well.

“I think I love you, Shikamaru.”

Shikamaru's smirk grew a little more. "I know. I feel the same."

Naruto's grin softened a little as Shikamaru voiced his reciprocation. He knew, despite his worries, he didn't need to worry about Shikamaru betraying him and leaving him. He knew he could trust Shikamaru with his heart.

So he did.

Again, Naruto leaned forward and kissed him.

Owari

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*
A/N2: Thanks for reading. I hope that wasn’t too cheesily sappy. >.> Please review and let me know what you thought.

&hearts

~ lg