Etched in Stone: The Shinobi Chronicles
folder
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
9
Views:
1,015
Reviews:
18
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
9
Views:
1,015
Reviews:
18
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Chouji: Chasing Butterflies
Disclaimer: We did not create Naruto, but we wish we were smart enough to come up with something this good.
Warning: Allusions of shounen-ai, but nothing deserving of a warning.
________________________________________
Chasing Butterflies
Chouji
High above the streets of Konoha, the air was still and empty. Not a sound penetrated the silence but the slow, deep breathing of a young, Leaf shinobi. The only creature in sight was a lone butterfly, which fluttered gracefully over the rooftop where the nin had taken sanctuary from the village.
Akamichi Chouji sat idly on the roof’s stone bench and watched the tiny creature dance playfully through the air. Overhead, several fat white clouds continued their slow trek through the sky, pushed along by a faint breeze. It was the perfect day for cloud gazing, Chouji noticed with a soft sad smile.
Unfortunately, that was the problem. The lazy shinobi, who usually occupied this bench, was nowhere to be found. For ten years Chouji had visited this rooftop and in all that time he had never been without the Nara by his side. It felt strange to be sitting here all alone and enjoying someone else’s favourite pastime.
But where was the world’s laziest shinobi?
As far as Chouji knew, Shikamaru was off having a wonderful time with their beautiful and popular, if not demanding, teammate. He could just picture the two walking arm in arm through the streets of Konoha, chatting happily and sharing small smiles of affection when their eyes met. The thought alone made his heart drop, landing somewhere on the ground by his he feet.
Yamanaka Ino, though undoubtedly pretty, was as every bit as dangerous as the kunoichi before her. Perhaps even more so, considering her looks and the years of training she underwent to hone her skills as a competent Leaf nin. Ino was a regular femme fatal yet, as her teammate, Chouji liked to think the blond was as every bit as delicate as the flowers her family nurtured in their shop. To him, Ino was a rose; beautiful, but not to be taken lightly. And, like any butterfly to a blossom, he couldn’t help but be drawn to her.
One’s eyes would have had to been gauged out of their skull with the tip of a kunai to not notice her radiance, which was why Chouji assumed Shikamaru had agreed to her request -he was a genius after all- but it still hurt to know that the girl he liked chose his best friend over him. Left alone to try and enjoy what should have been a great day spent with his friends, Chouji sat with only a butterfly for company.
He should have known better, the blond angel was simply out of his reach much like the sun was to the moon. A sigh escaped his lips as he leaned forward, resting his chin in his palms. Ino was not meant for him and though it hurt to admit, he knew he would make peace with this fact in due time.
Chouji’s mind drifted as if the gentle breeze around him were pushing his train of thought from one depressing subject to another. An image of his cloud-gazing comrade, best friend and secretly the object of his affection wandered into his mind’s eye, effectively suppressing any other thought. With a heavy sigh, Chouji dropped his dark gaze to the ground. He had always had a soft spot for the pony-tailed shinobi, ever since those carefree Academy days when they use to cut class just to munch on snacks and watch the clouds float by above them. In fact, some of Chouji’s favourite memories were about the time he and the shadow user had spent together. Although, he would never breathe a word of this to Shikamaru; Chouji valued the relationship they shared far too much to jeopardize it by doing something stupid like revealing he had a crush on the young male. Nope, not even for all the barbeque in the world.
The sound of shoes hitting concrete brought the Akamichi back to his surroundings. Rising up off his palms, Chouji turned his head and saw an all too familiar chestnut brown ponytail peak over the edge of the rooftop. A body quickly followed the ponytail as Shikamaru mounted the last step of the stone staircase leading up to what was arguably the best cloud-gazing spot in the village. Hands in his pockets and a bored expression already fixed on his tanned and angular face, the brunette joined his friend.
Chouji’s whole demeanour brightened as Shikamaru filled his regular seat beside him on the bench. “Hey,” he said smiling lightly.
“Hey,” the Nara drawled.
“How was your date?” Chouji asked, trying his best to make his voice sound off-hand and not all that interested in the answer.
“A nightmare,” Shikamaru said darkly, “that troublesome Ino nearly ripped my arm off.” He raised his hand as he spoke and rubbed a patch of skin above his right elbow. The normally tanned flesh was red and raw with several distinct crescent shaped indents pressed into the skin.
‘Nail marks,’ Chouji thought as he caught a glimpse of Shikamaru’s arm. The sight made his heart cry out for joy as it picked itself up off the ground and soared back to its rightful place in his chest.
“Oh,” Chouji replied simply, turning his dark eyes up to the sky but not really seeing it at all. Then he added suddenly, as if he wanted to keep up the best friend act and not let slip any hint that he might have some personal stake in whether or not Shikamaru began to date Ino exclusively. “But, I don’t understand. It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“You weren’t there. Damn troublesome woman,” the brunette muttered under his breath.
“You never change, Shikamaru” Chouji chuckled softly at his friend’s characteristic response. “Everything is troublesome to you.”
Shikamaru didn’t reply, instead he shifted from his sitting position to lay on the stone and stared up at the sky, pillowing the back of his head on his arms for comfort. “No, not everything,” the teenager said after a long moment of silence.
Chouji arched a brow, but didn’t tilt his head to look at his teammate. “Oh, really?” he asked in the same off-hand, 'tell-me-if-you-want-to-but-I’m-not-all-that-curious' voice he had relied earlier to milk information about the teen’s afternoon. “Like what?”
“This,” Shikamaru replied with a small shrug before falling silent once again.
Chouji felt his heart give a little flutter as his mind registered the answer. Pulling out one of his snacks from an inside pocket of his jacket, Chouji smiled cheerfully as he opened the bag of barbeque chips and offered some to Shikamaru; he was feeling hungry all of a sudden. At the same time he caught sight of the butterfly he had been watching earlier. The little creature was no longer alone, a second butterfly had joined its graceful dance and Chouji watched as the two were carried off by the wind.
Owari
Warning: Allusions of shounen-ai, but nothing deserving of a warning.
________________________________________
Chasing Butterflies
Chouji
High above the streets of Konoha, the air was still and empty. Not a sound penetrated the silence but the slow, deep breathing of a young, Leaf shinobi. The only creature in sight was a lone butterfly, which fluttered gracefully over the rooftop where the nin had taken sanctuary from the village.
Akamichi Chouji sat idly on the roof’s stone bench and watched the tiny creature dance playfully through the air. Overhead, several fat white clouds continued their slow trek through the sky, pushed along by a faint breeze. It was the perfect day for cloud gazing, Chouji noticed with a soft sad smile.
Unfortunately, that was the problem. The lazy shinobi, who usually occupied this bench, was nowhere to be found. For ten years Chouji had visited this rooftop and in all that time he had never been without the Nara by his side. It felt strange to be sitting here all alone and enjoying someone else’s favourite pastime.
But where was the world’s laziest shinobi?
As far as Chouji knew, Shikamaru was off having a wonderful time with their beautiful and popular, if not demanding, teammate. He could just picture the two walking arm in arm through the streets of Konoha, chatting happily and sharing small smiles of affection when their eyes met. The thought alone made his heart drop, landing somewhere on the ground by his he feet.
Yamanaka Ino, though undoubtedly pretty, was as every bit as dangerous as the kunoichi before her. Perhaps even more so, considering her looks and the years of training she underwent to hone her skills as a competent Leaf nin. Ino was a regular femme fatal yet, as her teammate, Chouji liked to think the blond was as every bit as delicate as the flowers her family nurtured in their shop. To him, Ino was a rose; beautiful, but not to be taken lightly. And, like any butterfly to a blossom, he couldn’t help but be drawn to her.
One’s eyes would have had to been gauged out of their skull with the tip of a kunai to not notice her radiance, which was why Chouji assumed Shikamaru had agreed to her request -he was a genius after all- but it still hurt to know that the girl he liked chose his best friend over him. Left alone to try and enjoy what should have been a great day spent with his friends, Chouji sat with only a butterfly for company.
He should have known better, the blond angel was simply out of his reach much like the sun was to the moon. A sigh escaped his lips as he leaned forward, resting his chin in his palms. Ino was not meant for him and though it hurt to admit, he knew he would make peace with this fact in due time.
Chouji’s mind drifted as if the gentle breeze around him were pushing his train of thought from one depressing subject to another. An image of his cloud-gazing comrade, best friend and secretly the object of his affection wandered into his mind’s eye, effectively suppressing any other thought. With a heavy sigh, Chouji dropped his dark gaze to the ground. He had always had a soft spot for the pony-tailed shinobi, ever since those carefree Academy days when they use to cut class just to munch on snacks and watch the clouds float by above them. In fact, some of Chouji’s favourite memories were about the time he and the shadow user had spent together. Although, he would never breathe a word of this to Shikamaru; Chouji valued the relationship they shared far too much to jeopardize it by doing something stupid like revealing he had a crush on the young male. Nope, not even for all the barbeque in the world.
The sound of shoes hitting concrete brought the Akamichi back to his surroundings. Rising up off his palms, Chouji turned his head and saw an all too familiar chestnut brown ponytail peak over the edge of the rooftop. A body quickly followed the ponytail as Shikamaru mounted the last step of the stone staircase leading up to what was arguably the best cloud-gazing spot in the village. Hands in his pockets and a bored expression already fixed on his tanned and angular face, the brunette joined his friend.
Chouji’s whole demeanour brightened as Shikamaru filled his regular seat beside him on the bench. “Hey,” he said smiling lightly.
“Hey,” the Nara drawled.
“How was your date?” Chouji asked, trying his best to make his voice sound off-hand and not all that interested in the answer.
“A nightmare,” Shikamaru said darkly, “that troublesome Ino nearly ripped my arm off.” He raised his hand as he spoke and rubbed a patch of skin above his right elbow. The normally tanned flesh was red and raw with several distinct crescent shaped indents pressed into the skin.
‘Nail marks,’ Chouji thought as he caught a glimpse of Shikamaru’s arm. The sight made his heart cry out for joy as it picked itself up off the ground and soared back to its rightful place in his chest.
“Oh,” Chouji replied simply, turning his dark eyes up to the sky but not really seeing it at all. Then he added suddenly, as if he wanted to keep up the best friend act and not let slip any hint that he might have some personal stake in whether or not Shikamaru began to date Ino exclusively. “But, I don’t understand. It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“You weren’t there. Damn troublesome woman,” the brunette muttered under his breath.
“You never change, Shikamaru” Chouji chuckled softly at his friend’s characteristic response. “Everything is troublesome to you.”
Shikamaru didn’t reply, instead he shifted from his sitting position to lay on the stone and stared up at the sky, pillowing the back of his head on his arms for comfort. “No, not everything,” the teenager said after a long moment of silence.
Chouji arched a brow, but didn’t tilt his head to look at his teammate. “Oh, really?” he asked in the same off-hand, 'tell-me-if-you-want-to-but-I’m-not-all-that-curious' voice he had relied earlier to milk information about the teen’s afternoon. “Like what?”
“This,” Shikamaru replied with a small shrug before falling silent once again.
Chouji felt his heart give a little flutter as his mind registered the answer. Pulling out one of his snacks from an inside pocket of his jacket, Chouji smiled cheerfully as he opened the bag of barbeque chips and offered some to Shikamaru; he was feeling hungry all of a sudden. At the same time he caught sight of the butterfly he had been watching earlier. The little creature was no longer alone, a second butterfly had joined its graceful dance and Chouji watched as the two were carried off by the wind.
Owari