Photogenic Reality

Heyho. Here's another...I'm not convinced about this one. It's weird...dunno...

Parties are hard to write...I didn't know how to make it and how to make the people.

Anyway, warnings for this one - drug abuse (you know you love it) and probably mild character bashing, I'm not sure who...and weird stuffs happening, again not sure.

Sorry for not warning about the Temari bashing in the last one, but I hate her. Actually I'm not sorry at all. And now I'mma bash her in this one, too. So fucking smoke that shit, mofoz.

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How many hours had it been now? He didn't care, everything was just too warped. Every time he tried to snatch a glance out the window to see the approaching daylight, someone else grabbed him, talking, screaming, dancing, throwing themselves at him.

The first of the surprises had been rather little, and really very pleasent. Naruto and Kiba had rushed over with a small, round cake, displaying a word he assumed was 'welcome', but half of it had been demolished by wandering fingers.

The second surprise, Kankuro had been in on. It had taken half an hour to successfully remove every single smear of lipstick acorss his face. Thankfully, Sakura and Ino had taken pity on him and rushed him through to the ladies bathroom to wash his face as he screamed about having the damned substance in his eyes.

"N-no, no more!" he begged Sai, who was all but dragging back by the waist for yet another dance. The guy was a deviant! Shikamaru never danced if he could help it. Moving in general was a bother, but a nessecary bother. Dancing was just plain pointless. And he didn't do pointless, thank you very much. Yet, time and again, one or more people had reached out and caught him, throwing him up amidst everyone else.

Sakura and Ino had saved him a dance or two for themselves, grinding up and down his sides, silently flirting at him, sending impish, glittering smirks his way. He couldn't help but blush at their forwardness. That was, until, Temari had 'interjected' (though Shikamaru would have called it 'bitch-budged'), and 'stolen' him away, leaving two young models slightly upset, and he'd tried to call out an appology before noticing that they we're now being entertained by Naruto's attempts at break dancing.

Neji had been speaking to him for a while, pale eyes a little more clouded than usual, hazy and unfocused, and he seemed a lot...more flirtacious, if that was the word. Shikamaru was contemplating asking if he felt alright when a rolled up bank note was waved vaguely in his direction. He frowned, but took it warily. He'd never done drugs before...well, except a little pot back in art school, but that was normal, right? He'd been offered cocaine a few times but never accepted, feeling it was an unessecary nuissance and absolutely useless.

As Neji cut him a rather healthy line, he felt an arm snake around his shoulders, and looked to his right to see Sasuke sink into the seat beside him.

"Neji's bringing you to the dark side, ne?" he asked, a wicked grin blessing his face as Shikamaru flushed a little, leaning down when Neji instructed him so and sniffing up the foreign substance.

Oh...well, that was weird. Nothing happened for a minute or two, then an almighty buzz, fizzing around his brain, making everything appear a little lighter than before, and making him smile as he spotted Kiba falling over at the other side of the room.

"You like?" Neji purred, already setting another two up for himself and Sasuke. Shikamaru nodded, blinking hard and only half registering the question. He heard Sasuke snicker and looked down to him as he almost kneeled of the floor beside the small glass coffee table.

"That one's on me, Neji..." he mumbled, gesturing dimly in Shikamaru's general direction. Neji sat up, squeezing his eyes closed in a tight frown, and shook his head.

"No. It's on me. I never thanked you properly for letting me be your first here," he said, leaning over and gazing at Shikamaru in all seriousness. He had to laugh at the chosen words, spluttering a little behind his hand as he almost fell back, watching Neji blink in confusion through half-lidded, hazy eyes.

"Dude, you say that like you fucked each other... You didn't, did you?" Sasuke asked, already having snorted his share and was remaining on the floor, leaning on the table as he gazed up, smirking devilishly. Neji laughed, finally getting the joke, as Shikamaru blushed furiously.

"No...but I wouldn't mind..." Neji said offhandedly as he leaned down for his line, Sasuke laughing aloud at his comment which left Shikamaru frowning. "I mean..." he said, tapping his nose delicately as he sat back up, "you're not that bad on the eyes, Nara-san..." he finished, reaching out for his glass of whatever concoction Naruto had forced upon him. The blond had gone a little 'liqueur-happy' at the bar, demanding that everyone help him create a new cocktail, which ended up making Gaara rush to the bathroom, a hand clasped desperately to his mouth.

"I'm no model," Shikamaru waved off, glazed smile returning as he leaned back lazily, an arm behind his head. Neji nodded.

"True, but still..." he trailed off, sending Sasuke a secret smirk that went unnoticed.

"Shi-ka-kun!" they heard a loud cry, Shikamaru looking up slowly to just catch a glimpse of Kiba before his lap was full of high-energy beauty. He yelped a little as the other landed on him, but did nothing to push him away, rather welcoming him as a source of diversion from the strange conversation.

"Hello Kiba..." he sighed, smiling a little. Kiba looked even better when seen through a drug-induced vapor. Kiba laughed, leaning in and staring hard into the photographer's eye.

"Ahh, I see Neji got to you before I did. I wanted to give you your first line. That was another surprise, see?" he said, sitting back up and grinning widely. Shikamaru nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said, still smiling hopelessly at the boy on top of him. Kiba just laughed again, shaking his head.

"It's cool. How are you enjoying yourself?" he asked, bouncing slightly, unable to contain his excitement. Shikamaru felt he needed to warn about the friction causing a slight discomfort before Kiba slid off him, taking up Neji' spot. Apparently he and Sasuke had siddled off together at Kiba's appearance, though he didn't know, or care, why. He nodded, reaching into his pocket for his eighth, or ninth, cigarette of the night.

"It's great. I've never been to a party like it..." he admitted, lighting up and sinking back in his seat, letting the stick rest between his teeth as he tilted his head back. He heard Kiba laugh once again and couldn't help but smile.

"That's 'cause you ain't ever partied with us! Me and Naruto, we know how to have fun!" he declared proudly, punching the air above his head in exclaimation. Shikamaru had to agree. He was right, he'd never had so much fun with such a large group of people.

"Maybe I'll come next time you guys have a party..." he said happily, lolling his head back and sucking on the cigarette between his teeth. Kiba laughed and shuffled a little closer.

"I let you know when we do," he said cheerily, then plucking the smoke from his lips and taking a drag. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow but let it slide. The guy was probably doing that 'living-in-the-moment' thing. Nothing to worry about.

"When did you start smoking, Shikamaru?" Kiba asked, taking another toxic breath and watching him casually, looking all together too comfortable with the cigarette in his fingers. Shikamaru sighed, sitting back up a little.

"My old teacher smoked all the time. During class and everything. Then we...well, we were just hanging out and he offered me one. That's it," he shrugged, feeling slightly guilty at not having told the whole story in extreme, perverted detail. But hey! Who said Kiba had to know?

The other nodded in understanding, or something close to it, and stood up, handing the half cigarette back to it's owner.

"I gotta dance. Wanna come?" he asked, grinning as he watched Naruto swinging Sakura about on the makeshift dancefloor (this only being that they had pushed all the pool tables and other obstructing objects out of their way). Shikamaru blinked a little, asking himself if he wanted to.

The cocaine answered. Yes, he fucking did.

"Yes," he grunted, stubbing his smoke out in something he presumed was an ashtray and standing, albeit shakily. He grinned at how dizzy he felt, letting Kiba grab his hand and tug him off in the direction of the small, moving crowd.

Naruto was the first to declare a dance, yanking Shikamaru's arm from Kiba's grasp and throwing himself into his body, laughing and squealing like a true drunken idiot. He laughed and looked to his side where Kankuro was gamboling over, an arm around Gaara's neck as they supported each other. Shikamaru blinked. Gaara was...smiling? Surely not. He never even smiled for his photos, apparently. The closest Shikamaru had ever seen him go was a dark sneer when someone he didn't like was being bitched about.

In the back of his mind he told himself to congradulate the two hyperactive models on their success at such a party. Everyone seemed to be on top of the world, laughing and enjoying themselves to no end.

He was withdrawn suddenly from the crowd by an arm wrapped around his waist and a mouth pressed to his ear.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" a voice he couldn't place whispered. He frowned. In is usual state he would probably turn around and shout, or get scared at the unknown person's proximity. But he was too out of it to notice his own strange behaviour as it was, so what to do? He kept on dancing, moving rather slowly due to fatigue from the alcohol, drugs and high energy drain of the party itself.

"For what?" he asked ignorantly, a little irritated by the fact that the arm around him only squeezed tighter.

"For the welcome party. Kiba and Naruto...it may have been their idea, but I'm the one who put it into play..." the voice answered. He frowned again, this time falling back a little into the body behind him.

"I dunno what you're gettin' at..." he mumbled, trying to stabalise himself by throwing an arm out to catch the table beside him, but it was caught by another, the opposite of the arm now snaking across his stomach.

"I'm trying to get some thanks. Is that so difficult?" the voice asked. By now he'd had enough and pushed himself away, turning around slowly for fear of gravity finally getting a hold of him and glared at his assailant.

It was Sasuke, staring at him darkly, a smirk playing across his face.

"Thank you," he said huffily, about to turn away and go back to Naruto who was screaming out his name, trying to find where he'd got to. Sasuke's hand flew out, grabbing his wrist and tugging him back gently.

"I was looking for something a little more..." he said softly, leaning over and pressing his lips to Shikamaru's, so lightly he was left wondering if it even happened.

"I...erm...I-"

"Oh well then...if you're not objecting..." Sasuke answered, leaning forward again and going deeper, harder and a little quicker than before. Shikamaru didn't know what to do...why was Sasuke kissing him? What if someone saw them...oh Kami, what if Kiba saw?

He stepped back quickly, effectively pushing a stray table behind him against the wall. Sasuke only laughed, letting go of his wrist and bending down to pick up his jacket from a chair.

"You're welcome..." he said quietly with a smirk, and turned around, walking out the door without a second glance.

Shikamaru blinked, two fingers pressed to his lips. His brain wasn't functioning properly...he should have stopped him before it was too late. He glanced around, but nobody seemed to have noticed. If they had, they probably didn't care.

He spotted Kiba sitting by the window, staring out at the rising sun. Before he could understand why he was walking over, and thre himself into a chair beside Kiba's, lazing back and staring out the enormous glass panell.

"Hey! How's it goin'?" Kiba asked, looking incredibly awake for someone who's been drinking and dancing for almost eight hours straight. Shikamaru smiled, fishing around for a cigarette once again.

"Fine..." he sighed, now searching for a lighter. he found one on the floor and sparked it, then dropping it down to it's previous place.

"I'm gonna go soon...I like the sunrise..." Kiba announced him, nodding along as if this was an important piece of information. Shikamaru smiled at him again.

"Where do you live? I'll walk with you," he offered, exhaling slowly.

"Uptown. But I can get a cab," Kiba announced, grinning widely. Shikamaru nodded turning back to the window, still replaying the whole Sasuke scene in his phazed mind. "Are you walking by yourself?" The question caused him to turn back around and nod.

"Yeah, I'm only a few minutes from here. Driving'd be pointless," he shrugged. Kiba frowned.

"Split a cab with me. I can drop you off before I go," he said forcefully, poking a finger into Shikamaru's arm.

"I'll be fine..."

"No, I wanna split a cab."

"Kiba, I'll be fine..."

"No."

Shikamaru half-glared at the troublesome argument and sighed.

"Fine,"

"Yay! I'm gonna go now. C'mon," he said, standing up and stretching, tugging his jacket from the chair on Shikamaru's other side. He nodded and stood, nearly falling into him, and grinned.

"Maybe it's best I don't walk, actually..." he mumbled, putting the cigarette out and following the other towards the door.

"Bye Shikamaru!" Naruto called, causing Sakura and Ino to stumble over towards him, hugging and squealing.

"I can't wait for our next shoot, Shika-kun!" Ino said wistfully, squeezing his arm happily. Sakura nodded on his other side.

"Me neither! Let's make it soon, ne?" she asked softly. He nodded vaguely, watching Kiba call downstairs to arrange a car for them. They giggled and kissed a cheek each again, running off together. He smiled as they walked away, and turned to follow Kiba to the elevator again.

Kiba had already pressed the call button and stretched upwards, yawning widely.

"Thank fuck I don't have a shoot today..." he mumbled, smiling at Shikamaru as he approached. He nodded, rubbing his eye slightly.

"Yeah, I got the day off..." he replied, stepping into the elevator behind the other, and watching as he pressed for the ground floor.

"Hmm...wanna do something later?" Kiba asked suddenly, making Shikamaru glance at him as he checked his pockets incase he'd forgotten something.

"Like what?"

"I dunno...a movie or something," he shrugged, scruffing his hair up roughly as he grinned. Shikamaru smiled at this.

"I dunno, maybe..." he offered, stepping out as the doors slid open, and walking past the guest lounge, where Kotetsu and Izumo had passed out in on the same couch, arms and legs tangled around each other. Anko was sitting behind the reception desk, a phone pressed between her ear and shoulder, eyes closed and drooling slightly. Kiba made no subtleties of pointing and laughing at them all as he walked out of the building, making a bee-line for the black car sitting directly in front of the main entrance.

Shikamaru shifted inside, scooting across to the other side, leaning an arm on the window rest, quickly followed by the model, who had been discussing something with the driver.

"So where's your place?"

Uh...go down this street and take a left. Then make a right and go straight on," he called to the chauffeur, who simply nodded and drove off, the engine already running. Kiba yawned loudly, slumping in his seat, not bothering with his seatbelt, and throwing a leg up to rest inbetween them both.

"I've never seen your house. What's it like?" he asked, watching Shikamaru lazily through one eye, the other being closed and his arms resting behind his head. He shrugged, lazing back slightly as he watched the streets move by outside.

"Boring. There's not much in it. But it's comfortable..." he concluded, hiding his own yawn behind a hand. He hadn't ever realised how tired he really was. Maybe he'd just pass out as soon as he got in the door, not even undressing. "Make a right here," he called to the front of the car, noticing a familiar sushi restaurant on his corner. "Here's fine, thank you," he said half heartedly, shifting slightly to open the door.

"Can I see?" Kiba asked suddenly. He looked over his shoulder at the other, frowning as his hand rested on the door handle.

"Huh?"

"Can I come up?" he asked again, moving across to exit through the same door. Shikamaru sighed.

"Yeah, sure..." he said, nodding as he stepped out, fumbling around in his pocket for his keys with Kiba asking the driver to wait for a minute or two before following on. "Don't pretend you're impressed with it. It's not impressive at all," he warned him, key in the lock of the main door. Kiba grinned lazily and nodded.

"I promise," he said, holding up two fingers entwined. "Model's honour."

He sighed again, shoving the door open and making his way up the stairs, trudging and dragging his feet. There went his passing out idea. But Kiba wouldn't take long...probably just take one look at the place and run back out, screaming at the lack of life the apartment seemed to eminate.

"Here," he said, toying with his keys again to find the right one, standing outside the second door of the hallway. Kiba halted right beside him, smiling in anticipation.

"Ojamashimasu..." he sighed to no one in particular, literally forcing his legs to move on the door.

"Wow!" Kiba exclaimed, slipping out of his shoes and walking fully inside so Shikamaru could close the door.

"I told you not to act impressed," he said, throwing his keys to the side table and walking through to the kitchen. "Do you want tea or anything?" he asked out of habit, then realised that Kiba had a car waiting. "Nevermind..."

"Yeah, I'd love some," he said, wandering in by himself, staring about.

"But, your car-"

"He'll wait," he shrugged, examining the microwave. Shaking his head, he put the kettle to boil.

"I'll be back in a moment, I gotta change," he sighed, leaving the other man sitting at his kitchen table as he walked through to the bedroom. He felt around his bed for the t-shirt and the loose track pants he usualy slept in, and began unbuttoning Iruka's shirt. He'd wash it later, or tomorrow, and return it. Iruka seemed to love it for some reason, so he may as well give it back as soon as possible.

"Wow, your room's kinda small, huh?" he heard Kiba's voice from the doorway. He squeaked a little and spun around, almost falling over, and slamming a hand down on the table at his bedside to keep himself vertical. Kiba grinned and took another step inside, walking over to the window to check the view. "You've got a good scene of the city from here though, ne?" he asked, looking back over to Shikamaru who was now glaring at him as he tugged the shirt off fully.

"You're supposed to knock before you enter. 'Specialy if someone's changing," he mumbled, begining to unbutton his pants. Kiba giggled and shrugged, walking over.

"Nothing I ain't seen before, man. And you know your acting more pissed then you really are," he said softly, coming to a stop right in front of him. Shikamaru's hands stopped their ministrations on his fly, and he watched Kiba look down at his body, feeling completely self-concious and slightly unworthy of such a gaze.

Kiba's hand moved over to touch his arm lightly, pausing, then moving back to softly stroke upwards over his shoulder to his neck, both pairs of eyes watching it, though Shikamaru's soon shifted to Kiba's face, watching his reactions.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking over Shikamaru's confused expression. The photographer frowned. Of course he was okay with Kiba touching him. It was Kiba, after all. But the whole night had been weird. The Sasuke mishap flashed through his mind breifly. He blushed a little, but nodded, unwilling to tell Kiba of what had happened. He proably couldn't explain it anyway; even he didn't understand.

"Yeah," he said, his voice softer than he expected. Kiba smiled gently and leaned down slightly, pressing his lips to Shikamaru's cheek, firm yet light and reassuring, caressing the skin a little before moving back. Shikamaru blinked, his eyes reopening half way and he looked into the eyes close to him. Kiba wasn't smiling now. He looked serious. Too serious. As if Shikamaru's answer hadn't satisfied him.

Before anything could be said he had leaned in again, now catching Shikamaru's lips and pressing closer, moving a little to close what little space was between them. His other hand landed on his hip, the first still at his neck, simply holding his head up. Shikamaru's hands were still on his pants, but he lifted his fingers to hook into Kiba's belt loops in the tinyest of motions.

They stood there for what seemed to be the lenghth of a day. Shikamaru could feel the warmth of the sunlight through the window, hitting them both with the early rays of gold, illuminating them. Kiba didn't move, only stood with his lips resting against Shikamaru's, as if letting him decide whether to deepen the possible kiss or not. He leaned in more, pushing Kiba's head back almost as he layed more pressure into it. It seemed to do the trick as Kiba's hand snaked up to his hair, the one on his hip pressing the fingers into his bare skin.

Like an unholy call to war, the kettle in the kitchen screamed, dissrupting them both, and Kiba stepped back a little, but not dropping his hands. The fingers on his pants didn't move either, and Shikamaru blinked as if he'd just woken up, drowsy and confused. Kiba only smiled, eyes still half closed and he pulled his hands away, stepping back fully, letting Shikamaru's arms flop to his sides.

"If you still wanna do something later, call me, 'kay?" he said happily, stretching widely, still smiling. Shikamaru didn't know what to say. He pressed a finger to his lips, still feeling Kiba there somehow. He nodded, and followed wordlessly as Kiba made his way to the door, slipping back into his shoes.

"I-um...uh," he tried, unable to think of the words he wanted to say. Kiba had just kissed him...what was he supposed to say? Kiba only smiled again, the door open infront of him and he put one foot out to the hallway.

"Is that pizza place downstairs any good?" he asked, scruffing his hair again. Shikamaru nodded, frowning slightly. "We'll order one then. I'll grab some movies and come over later. Call me if you don't want me to," he said, reaching a hand out to stroke Shikamaru's cheek before grinning and turning away, walking off down the hallway.

He didn't watch him leave, deciding instead to close the door and shut that damned kettle the hell up. Grumbling and cursing he made his way back to bed, sliding the pants to the floor and pulling on his sleep-worn ones before falling into bed, throwing an arm over his eyes.

"God damnit..." he whispered to himself, turning his head slightly, away from the bright window, and falling asleep almost instantly with thoughts of Kiba, of Sasuke, and of Kiba again.

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Outside, Kiba got back into the car, yawning time and again and sliding back in his seat as the driver took off, not saying a word.

He smiled, holding two fingers to his lips. He glanced outside to the fully fledged day, and his eyes flicked up to the almost cloudless sky. He sighed happily.

The barely-there, wispy clouds looked nice at this time of the morning. He hoped they'd be like that all day...

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Omg...my internet was down as I finished this off. I wanted to put it up but nooooooooooo...

God damn mofo.

Anyways, I ain't sure about this one as I said. Not sure if I'm happy with the Sasuke thing. It's not that I hate him. I'm undecided about him. Used to adore him, now I'm not so sure...whatever. Just decided to make him an ass for this...maybe he'll turn out to be nice, who knows. I sure as hell don't.

Reviews love you, so go ahead and do one. They make humble, simple folk like I happy. So do it.

Now.

xxx