My Mangaka

A/N: Thanks Fairy Nimah for always being there for me. Luv u hon!

Persistence, Violence, and Chivalry



He still met with Haku every other week. He still worked on screening manga for English release. He was on to action adventure at the moment. He corresponded with the main office through the few e-mails he could manage and snail-mail. He received large packages of books and spent his time reading. It was very dull at times.



Excitement it seemed was on the way. Shikamaru looked out his window for the hundredth time. Haku was late. He usually showed up at the little shop across the street far earlier than this. That’s where they met. Shika always watched for his friend from the window as he read.



Finally, he saw Haku walking toward the shop. Then he noticed someone waiting just outside an alleyway. He recognized the silver hair just as the man grabbed Haku and pulled him into the alley. Haku didn’t even have time to cry out.



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He raced down the stairs and out the door. Terror gripped his heart. “If I’d have known that….” Those words, that threat; he had to get to Haku before that man hurt him.



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“I know where he is now. I don’t need you anymore.”



THUMP



THUD



“Haku!” Shikamaru yelled. He slammed his shoulder into the door. It crashed in. Haku was on the dirty floor unconscious and his assailant was nowhere to be found. Shikamaru gathered him up and ran with the slight man in his arms for yelling for help.



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“So naughty. Hiding from me.” The voice was so evil. “I finally found you. I won’t let you go.” A vicious hand tugged the silky hair turning the face upward. “You belong to me.”



Haku was frantic when he woke. He had run out of the room and straight for his dirt bike. Shikamaru had tried to stop him.



“No! I have to go! He’s headed for Sensei’s house!”



“You’re friend is there?!”



“Yes! I don’t know what Kabuto will do! Please, let me go!”



He hadn’t. He hadn’t let Haku go alone. They had gone together. Shikamaru was grateful for the time that he and Naruto had spent riding dirt bikes in the hills behind Naruto’s adopted father’s place. He never could have kept up with the frantic Haku, if he hadn’t been used to following the lunatic blond.



Haku had stopped before they reached the house. He told Shikamaru to be very quiet. He wasn’t sure what Kabuto would do if he knew someone was coming.



“Is your friend alone here?”



“Yes. There isn’t anyone else here right now. They always go home every third week.”



They crept toward the house as quietly as possible, both armed with crude clubs and ready to face whatever the maniac was up to. Well, Shika had thought so anyway.



Haku stopped under a window when he heard a familiar voice.



“Don’t you look slutty like that? Remember? You wouldn’t wear things like this when I asked nicely.” There was no sound from the person Kabuto was speaking to. There was a flash as a picture was taken, then some rustling.



“Mine. No one is coming for you. You really are all mine.” There were wet sounds that Shika didn’t think he wanted to identify. “You like that? I always knew you were a size whore.” There were more flashes and Shika was certain now that he didn’t want to know what was happening on the other side of that wall.



They made it into the house without being found out. The demon was too busy with his prey to notice the interlopers. Haku turned the knob slowly and cried out in shock at the sight before him. Shika shoved the stunned man to the side as Kabuto lunged at them both. They went down in a heap.



Haku fought valiantly, but Kabuto had him in close quarters and used his size to his advantage. Haku was slammed into the wall repeatedly while Shikamaru tried to club Kabuto to death from behind. They both seemed to lose consciousness at the same time and slumped to the floor together. Shika tossed the criminal aside and checked to be sure Haku was still breathing. He was.



Then Shika turned his attention to the man on the bed. He was face down and he was securely tied, one wrist to one ankle. There was some kind of sex toy in his anus. Shika cringed. He’d just walked in on a rape in progress. What the hell was he supposed to do now?!



He approached the other man carefully. “My name is Nara Shikamaru. I’m a friend of Haku’s. I am going to help you. “



It took some doing, but he finally got the ropes off. The other man slumped forward onto the bed. He made no movement, none at all. Shikamaru’s eyes kept flicking to the man’s blanket covered ass.



“Do you want me to leave…. So you can …. Um…….“ He didn’t finish. The other man turned to look at him through a mass of brown hair and nodded.



“Let me tie the asshole up, in case he wakes up.” When that was done, he locked the brute in the hallway bathroom.



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Knock Knock



“Can I come in? I want to check on Haku.”



“Please.” Was the only answer. Shika opened the door. The other man was cradling Haku in his arms. Long brown hair fell like a curtain over both their faces. Shika knelt beside them.



“We need to get him some help.”



“It’s on the way.”



“H-How?!”



“I called my family. They are sending a helicopter with people to help.”



“Oh.” The guy was rich. That didn’t fit with the image he’d had of Haku’s friend. He’d assumed the man was another assistant to the mangaka.



“They disowned me. I’m gay. They’ll do anything to prevent a scandal. It will all be taken care of, as if it never happened.” The voice was so sad and so soft. Shika couldn’t help it, he wanted to hug the man and tell him it would be okay, even if it wouldn’t.



He wasn’t prepared for it. The most beautiful face he’d ever seen turned toward him. Pale violet eyes glistened with unshed tears as nothing but pride held the other man together. “Thank you for your help.”



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“He’s leaving.”



“He’s given up then?” Why that bothered Neji he couldn’t be sure. He chocked it up to his recent experiences and went back to fixing the draft.



“No. His mother is in the hospital, so his company gave him permission to come home. After that, he’ll be back.”



Neji’s head fell. This was no good. It really couldn’t go on this way any longer. One mangaka’s selfish whims should not be able to rule or ruin another person’s life. He stood slowly and walked to the office door with an air of resignation. The door slid shut behind him. A few minutes later voices were heard.



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Haku was shocked. They were going to America. Neji had made it happen. He glanced at his friend as he squeezed the delicate pale hand supportively.



Neji just nodded without looking at him.



Migoto Tsukurigoto was going to be translated into English. They were headed to the final negotiations. Beautiful Lie, the Manga’s title was so very apt in so very many ways. Haku’s stomach turned from more than the turbulence.



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“You’re HOME!” Naruto yelled into the phone nearly blowing Shika’s eardrum. “You bastard! You didn’t’ tell me you were coming home! I wouldn’t have left!”



“It’s okay. I’m really jet lagged. I just saw mom. She looks like death, but she’ll be okay.” Shikamaru swiped his hand over his face. “I have to be in to the office tomorrow. They just called and told me, so I’m just gonna go home and sleep.”



“I’m headed back now. I should be there by the afternoon.”



“Fine, just come by the office. I’m sure I’ll be there.”



“Get some rest. I’m sure you look like hell.”



“Troublesome brat! I love you too.” His voice didn’t exactly drip with sarcasm, like it should have. He was just too damn tired. He hadn’t slept well. Haunted amethyst eyes tortured him every time he closed his own. Shika couldn’t shake the guilt. He’d just left them there when the imposing men in dark suits arrived and made it clear that his presence was no longer needed.



He shouldn’t have. He should have stayed. He’d left a message for Haku when he’d learned of his mother’s emergency hysterectomy. The pretty assistant hadn’t called him. Shikamaru couldn’t help wondering how they were doing; especially the eerily beautiful man who filled his head with very frightening thoughts.



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Chief Editor, Anko Mitarashi about fell out of her chair. “Really?! You’re kidding right?!! Holy Shit! I’m on my way!” She bolted out of her office while shouting at her assistant. “Find Shikamaru Nara!”



A small group of men entered the building. They were cloistered around a petite figure wrapped in a long coat. The group quickly made its way into the building and headed for the elevator. A lone figure in an overlarge hooded sweatshirt slipped in behind them. The hood was up and the man was wearing dark sunglasses. No one noticed him in the commotion.



“Hey! Hold the elevator!” Naruto was jogging toward the closing doors. His hand was raised in entreaty. All he could think about was seeing Shika after such a long time apart. He was going to hug the genius and then tell him what an idiot he was. Naruto didn’t really pay attention to the delicate alabaster hand that moved to stop the closing doors.



“Thanks, man. I owe you.” The blond breathed as he slipped into the compartment. “Third floor please.”



They both stepped out at the same time. Naruto jostled the other man’s slender frame in his eagerness to see his best friend. “Oh, sorry. I’m being a jerk.”



The other man’s face wasn’t as shadowed by the hood as it had been before their collision. Naruto watched as brilliant white teeth bit a plump pale pink lip uncertainly. “Um, I know most of the people on this floor. Can I help you find an office?”



The other seemed to debate answering for a moment. “Yes. Domo.” The man’s accent was smooth and graceful. He could have been from anywhere. It was only the Japanese ‘thank you’ that tipped Naruto off. “I am looking for Shikamaru Nara.”



Naruto gulped. Hearing Shikamaru’s name slip from those delicate lips gave him a shiver of dread. He actually ‘looked’ at the man facing him. Even covered as he was, the man was pretty.



“Oh, well, his office is this way.”



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Shika was stunned. The Mangaka he’d been hunting for so long was being brought up to his office. His mind should have been on business. It wasn’t. His only thoughts were, ‘will they be with her’ ‘are they angry with me for abandoning them’ ‘I really am a bastard’. It went on in that vein even up to the moment the door opened and a petite figure was ushered in.



He gave the formal Japanese greeting, bow and all. When his head came up, he locked eyes with a slightly tearful Haku.



“Nara-san. I am so sorry for misleading you. I am a terrible person. Please forgive me.” Haku dropped to his knees as he completed the last sentence. Anko’s expression slipped from excitement to confusion. She looked to Shika for an explanation and found the oddest expression there. Shikamaru gulped as he steadied himself. He lowered slowly to a crouch in front of the lightly sobbing man.



“Haku? Are you the Mangaka?”



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Naruto opened the door to his best friend’s office to find it filled with people. The room was too quiet and the blond instantly pushed through to find Shika. His heart fluttered a bit when he saw his long lost friend. Then he was stumbling as the man he’d arrived with shouldered him out of the way.



“Haku?!” Neji cried in concern. “Are you alright?! What happened?” Neji looked up at Shikamaru. Shikamaru’s voice caught in his throat. It was him. He was there. Shika didn’t need to see those amazing eyes. He’d know this man anywhere.



“Are you… How are you?” Shika could barely breath the words. His chest has tightened painfully. It showed on his face and Naruto was at his side in an instant.



“Okay! Fun’s over. EVERYBODY OUT! Now!” The blond roared and no one moved.



Neji locked eyes with the other man. “Please leave us.” He concurred and the room did clear.



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Shika dropped back onto his butt with a sigh. “Who is the mangaka? It’s one of you isn’t it?”



The disguised Neji’s head dropped in shame. “I’m sorry. After all that you’ve done for us. I felt compelled. I’ll allow the release of Migoto Tsukurigoto in English.”



Haku buried his face in Neji’s firm chest and his friend’s strong arms wrapped around his slender frame.



“What the hell is he talking about Shika?! How do you know these guys?” Neji’s eyes were covered. The beach blond didn’t see the cold hard look shooting at him from behind the dark glasses. It hadn’t really hit Neji yet. Ever since his rescue at Shikamaru’s hands, Neji had begun to view his rescuer as ‘his’ rescuer.



Hyuuga’s just happened to be the most possessive people on the planet. It was a fact that Neji was very aware of. Once something was his in his mind, it was his forever. Neji was a possessive bastard that way.



“Is this you’re friend Nara-san?” Haku asked without moving. He’d felt the shift in Neji. He’d seen this coming and had fretted over Neji’s response once the disowned Hyuuga realized his new attachment to the young literary exec.



Shikamaru looked up over his shoulder at Naruto’s troubled face. “Oh, yeah. This is Naruto. Naruto, this is Haku and his friend Neji. I told you about Haku….”



“Maybe you wanna tell me about Neji too, huh?” Naruto was getting a little pissed off. He didn’t like to be in the dark, especially where Shika was concerned.



“Um, I can’t.” Shika didn’t look at him.



“You WHAT?!” Naruto shot to his feet. They had never had a secret between them, not ever.



“It’s….. Oh hell Naruto, please…. Just…. I don’t know…. can Neji and I talk for a minute?”



Haku pulled away from Neji and whispered so that only he could here. “Behave.” Neji frowned, but nodded.



The pretty little raven stood up and gave Naruto his sweetest smile. “Please… will you show me where there is a restroom?  I need to rinse my face and straighten my appearance.”



Naruto shot a glare at Shika, promising some form of truly annoying retribution. “Sure, it’s this way.”



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Shika sighed and looked at a spot just above Neji’s shoulder. “He’s my best friend. He has a right to be pissed if he thinks I’m keeping things from him.” Neji removed his glasses and looked Shikamaru in the eyes.



“Then don’t.”



“What?!”



“If he were truly the most important person to you, nothing could make you deceive or deny him.”



“You writers always spout shit like that. Do you even live in the real world?!” The dam of Shika’s patience had just broken. “Troublesome…”



Neji smiled a sad smile that didn’t reach his eyes. Again, Shikamaru just wanted to gather the other man in his arms and tell him it would all be okay. Neji really resembled a lost kitten.  The way he stared at Shikamaru as if he wanted to be held, but would scratch his eyes out if he offered such comfort. 



“Naruto IS the most important person in my life. There is no one else who has been there for me like him, not even family.” He reached into his jacket pocket for the smoking cessation gum Naruto had insisted he try before his trip. “It’s not mine to tell. I mean… what happened, it happened to you more than anyone, and it just isn’t my place to tell anyone anything.”



Neji’s gaze fell to his hands. This Nara Shikamaru really was too good to be true. That only made things so much worse. He had to ask fate, ‘why couldn’t he have been a jerk?’ Things would have been a lot less complicated had that been the case.



“Then I shall tell him.”



“Huh?!” The packet of gum hit the floor.



“If I do this, perhaps I won’t feel so indebted to you. Perhaps some of the guilt for wasting so much of your time while refusing to meet with you…. Perhaps some of that will go away.” Neji’s hands held each other in a white-knuckled grip. “Maybe I’ll feel a bit more at peace, if I just say it out loud.” He couldn’t help but think ‘maybe if I give this bit of myself away, my pride… then maybe I will gain something so very much greater than that’.



There was a shaky breath and then, “My former lover attacked my assistant and then attacked me. He tied me up and was beginning to rape me, when Haku and Nara Shikamaru saved me. Haku was knocked unconscious. Nara-sama was very gentle as he untied me. He tied up my attacker and even gave me privacy to ‘deal’ with ‘things’ and collect myself. He was very concerned for Haku’s welfare. It…. It was horrible, but…. It is encouraging to know that there are people like him in this world. He didn’t have to help us.”



Shikamaru hadn’t heard the door open. He didn’t know that Naruto was standing just outside it. Neji had noticed. He was ultra sensitive to the slightest changes in his environment now. He had been ever since that night. This was his gift to Shikamaru. This was his hook. The man was bound to him now. Shikamaru just didn’t know it yet.



A small part of him felt guilty. That part was far smaller than his possessive streak or the sucking empty darkness that seemed to fill his heart more and more everyday. Somehow Neji felt that if he could just have this person, this kind and gentle person, then the emptiness would be filled and he might just be able to continue to exist in this world.



It was weak and pathetic and shameful and he knew those things. Those things just weren’t as important as the idea of Nara Shikamaru. That idea now held every bit of meaning for him. And no blue eyed blond was going to stand in his way.



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“So, you’re some kind of a hero, huh?” Neji had left them alone, claiming that he needed to check on Haku. Naruto had been too stunned to see the cold calculation in the other man’s jewel-like eyes.



Shikamaru shrugged. “It was really messed up. He was… he was being raped by that bastard. The guy was talking to him like he was property. I… I can’t get it out of my mind. How does somebody get through something like that?!” Hot tears slipped past the dark brown lashes. “Naruto… I…. I feel responsible for him.”



That last bit cut. It shouldn’t have. Shika was just being noble, but it cut into Naruto’s heart nonetheless. How Shika could feel responsible for any man but him… well that was a question that hurt. That was the moment that Naruto realized it had never really been a game. He had only pretended for Shika’s sake and out of his own fear of rejection.



Naruto really wanted Shikamaru to be his ‘one true love’. Now, some other man was on the receiving end of Shika’s protective streak and Naruto felt jealous.  Considering the circumstances involved THAT just made him feel like an asshole.



“So, what do you want to do about it?”



Shika’s head fell against his chest and he mumbled his tag line against Naruto’s thin tank top. “Troublesome.”



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“This is unkind Neji-kun.” Haku was being himself, Neji’s own personal conscience. Jiminy Cricket really had nothing on the petite assistant.



“I need him.” The reply was so bereft of emotion that the lack spoke volumes. Neji always retreated when hurt. He’d been so distant lately that Haku feared he’d never return.



“The blond is in love with him.”



“Then he should have done something sooner.”



“Would that have stopped you?” Before Haku would have never questioned Neji’s integrity, but now there was a dark suspicion in the very back of his mind.



“I… I’m not sure. Please Haku, I’m very tired. Can we please just sleep?” He sounded so small and so frail.



Neji never let anyone else see him like this. Haku hugged him tightly and kissed his dark brown head.



“Sleep well Neji-kun.”



“I love you Haku.”



“I know. I love you too.”



They fell asleep like that. The brunette rested easiest when sheltered in the petite raven’s wings.

 

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Naruto sat reading on his bed.  He wasn’t one to read often, but whenever he had trouble sleeping he would pull out his old comic books and just look them over until he nodded off.  Tonight was different though.  He wasn’t reading comics, he was reading manga, yaoi manga.  The pictures were so erotic.  He had to wonder if Shika had seen this one.  Neji had a darker side to him it seemed.  At least if this manga could be used as an indication.

Naruto gulped hesitantly before turning the next page.  He was hard, hard from reading the shit that pervy mangaka had drawn and written.  That was the same pervy mangaka that Shika felt ‘responsible’ for.  Naruto was hard and near tears at the same time.  What did he have over that guy?  Neji had looks, style, talent, and obviously a lot of old fashioned gay ‘know how’.  Some of those positions Naruto had never even heard of, much less tried!!

~tbc~