From the Abstract to the Practical

Chapter = Sleep Deprived and the Bad Boy Boots

“Two days.” Shikamaru’s mom announced as she served breakfast to him and his dad. Does she think I can’t read a calendar? Every day for the past two weeks she’d been counting it down. It was getting to the point where showing up for breakfast just wasn’t worth the hassle. Here it comes. “Now, you know we are leaving right at 7:00 am Saturday morning. Any of your friends who don’t show up….blah….blah….blah…..” Shika managed to tune it out. Everyday, first the count down to launch and then the riot act.

Who knew turning eighteen would be such a pain. Shika wondered; if he was almost an adult, when was she gonna stop treating him like a two year old? Oh, yeah. She treats dad the same way. Guess there’s no hope. I’ve gotta get my own place. Soon! His mood wasn’t gonna improve, sitting here listening to this. He stood up, interrupted her long enough to thank her for breakfast, and beat a hasty retreat out the front door. He might have felt a little guilty for abandoning his dad like that, but the man would’ve done the same if he’d thought of it first.

It had been another bad night. Shika had gotten up before the alarm clock went off, again. He’d gotten up, thrown his laundry in the washer and gone outside and trained until breakfast. Normally, Shika hated getting up. He loved to laze about. But lately, his bed was not his friend. It was an enemy that he regarded with distrust and resentment. He couldn’t go on like this. There was just no helping it. Ugh, he had to ask her for help.

The air was cool against his skin. It shouldn’t have been. The people out and about didn’t seem to think so. It was just his exhaustion. He tried not to think about last night….tried. Every night since he’d done…..what he done, he’d been plagued by insomnia. Regret was a very troubling thing. What had he been thinking? It was all so wrong. He’d forced….Him to stand there and……. Oh, gods. I’m some kind of a rapist. He thought dramatically. What made it worse was that he regretted how he’d managed it, but he didn’t actually regret touching…Him. Man, I can’t even Think his name. How the hell am I gonna talk to him. I have to make this right. How did I make this much trouble for myself? What the hell was I thinking?

He stopped outside Sakura’s house, then changed his mind and moved on. He would just catch her at her usual lunch stop, outside the hospital. Yeah, that would be soo much better than knocking on the door and having to face Sakura’s mom, even just to ask for her. Shikamaru headed for the Mission office. He had taken the early shift today. Not like he would be able to sleep in anyway.

Shikamaru finished his shift and headed straight home. He walked in the door, waved at his parents as he removed his sandals, and headed straight for the kitchen. He was grateful to any and all spirits that his mom hadn’t followed him and started in about the festival again. He waited impatiently while the water in the kettle heated up.

Finally, it was hot enough. He took one of the small packets of herbs out of the envelope and dropped it in the water. He resisted the urge to use two. Sakura had assured him that this herbal remedy was very powerful and would knock him out in no time.

He must have looked worse than he thought, ‘cause she barely asked him any questions about his insomnia and warned him about using only the proper dosage, without sounding condescending. All and all, getting her to help him had gone a lot better than expected. He drank the tea in two gulps and headed to bed, hoping to have a peaceful, dreamless nights rest.

Preening in front of the long mirror hanging on Iruka’s closet door, Naruto was grateful. Iruka had taken the entire evening to help him. First, they’d returned almost everything he had bought on his previous excursion. They’d kept the boots he was wearing. That was about it.

Naruto liked the boots. They felt a little weird since they covered his whole foot and came half way up his calf, but he liked the rugged look, the buckles and straps that seemed to be haphazardly placed at weird angles. They were cool.

After they’d returned the other items, Iruka had taken him to a whole different part of the village. The shops were smaller and all seemed to have a kind of theme. It hadn’t taken long. Iruka seemed to know just what they needed, so Naruto hadn’t had to spend much time trying stuff on. That was the second best part.

When they were done, Iruka treated him to ramen, just like he used to. That was the best part. They’d just sat and ate together. Neither one feeling the need to talk or entertain the other. They hadn’t spent much time together lately, he’d realized. They both seemed to be so busy.

Naruto decided that he needed to make more of an effort. Iruka was the closest thing to family he had. He was the only person who really seemed to just enjoy having him around, not doing anything, just around. Iruka was always there when he needed him. Like tonight! I feel soo much better now.

Naruto turned this way and that, in front of his mirror and Iruka couldn’t get over how good he looked. The long sleeved cream colored shirt hugged his toned upper body closely, but wasn’t vulgar. He’d pushed the sleeves up to the top of his forearms, the creamy color showing off the muscled, tanned skin. One dark tan stripe ran from the shoulders, down the outside of the sleeve on each side, adding dimension. Iruka was really glad he’d seen it.

The collar of the shirt wasn’t low, but it did show off some of Naruto’s muscled shoulder’s and collar bone, revealing more of the tanned flesh. The dark brown, almost black jeans were baggy and gave Naruto a little bit of a bad boy feel. The boots helped that too. The shirt balanced nicely. It really was a shame that the boots weren’t more visible, but tucking the jeans into the boots was out of the question, as he had explained to Naruto, more than once. The boy really liked those boots.

Yes, Naruto looked good in his new clothes. Sakura and Ino wouldn’t be able to complain about that. Iruka had decided to let Naruto sleep on his couch tonight, so he could help the boy with his hair in the morning. Iruka really wasn’t one to leave things half done. He had an image in his head now, of exactly what Naruto should look like tomorrow and he wanted to be sure it was just right.

The boy turned and flashed him a toothy grin. “Thanks, Iruka-sensei.” Oh, yes that shirt was perfect. Iruka couldn’t say when Naruto’s eyes had looked any bluer or bigger. His hair looked like honey against the cream of the shirt. In short, the boy looked delicious and Iruka was very pleased with his handy work. Top that Ino, Sakura.