The Tournament

Kiba walked into the hotel room, his nose telling him that something was going on. Hinata's hair was damp, her cheeks flushed, and she was zipping up her jacket. The sound of the shower in the back ground told him that she wasn't alone in the hotel room.

Kiba walked up to his freshly made bed and sat down, then closed his eyes so that he could concentrate better. He took a deep breath through his nose and smelled female arousal. It was faint, and mostly centered in the bathroom, but it was still there. There was also a spike of lust by the dresser. The other thing he smelled was male arousal. There was no smell of sex, but the fact that two healthy aroused people in the same room sent off warning signals in his head.

“Hey Hinata?” he asked, not sure if he really wanted to ask about what happened. When she looked over at him he decided that he had to do it. “What happened?”

Hinata blinked at him several times, then her face brightened up, “Oh, you mean this afternoon?” she asked, “Well I thought we would wait for the meeting before we talked about that. But if you really wanted to know...”

“No,” Kiba interupted. “I wanted to know about what happened just now.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

Before Kiba could explain what he was talking about Shikamaru stepped out of the bathroom, damp hair out of its ponytail without a shirt on. He glanced grumpily at the two of them before going to his drawer in the dresser and getting a clean shirt out.

Kiba glanced at Hinata's face, it was slightly flushed as she watched Shikamaru pull the shirt on over his head. Before Shikamaru turned around, Hinata faced forward and struggled to get her blush under control. Kiba had seen that reaction many times before, back when she had a crush on Naruto. Kiba glared at the lazy ninja, knowing instinctively that it was all his fault.

“What?” Shikamaru asked, catching Kiba's look.

Kiba sniffed derisivly. “Nothing.”

Shikamaru lifted an eyebrow at this but decided not to comment. Instead he glanced at Hinata, whose face was still bright red. “Are you feeling alright Hinata? You're looking a little flushed,” he asked the girl leaning in close. This caused Hinata to turn an even brighter red. Shikamaru pressed a hand against her forehead and looked thoughtful.

Hinata wrenched her head out from under his hand and spun away. “L-let's get down to business,” she ordered, not quite making eye contact with anyone. “I went by the places that you wrote down. Each one was a brothel of some sort. But I got some information about the slave tread in general and reluctant slaves in particular...”

Kiba started zoning out a little during Hinata's lecture. All he could think about was the smell of arousal in the room before he arrived. There was a hint of frustration, which indicated that nothing had come from the arousal, but Kiba couldn't take that chance.

Hinata was pure. Not like any other girl he had ever met. The fact that she had been aroused was unnerving to him. Hinata was just not designed to be sexual to his way of thinking. She was like a little sister, who he had raised to be a nun. Hinata and sex had no place being in the same sentence. It was just... wrong.

Kiba must have made a noise because the next thing he knew, there was silence. The kind of silence that was very directed towards one person, and Kiba had the sneaking suspiscion it was directed at him. HE glanced up to see if he was right.

“Are you okay Kiba?” Hinata asked, leaning her face closer to his.

Kiba grinned cockily, “Of course. What could be the problem?”

“I don't really know,” Hinata answered worriedly, “But you were growling.”

“You must be hearing things Hinata,” Kiba said overly loudly, while scratching the back of his head. “Now what was all that about reluctant slaves and our girl?”

“Prizes are trained by the best trainers,” Hinata said slowly. “Reluctant slaves are trained by the days of the week, so the best way to find Akane would be to find the best day of the week.”

“I've always liked Saturdays,” Kiba offered.

“We don't really know which day is the best day,” Hinata explained. “I haven't gotten a chance to talk with the sellers yet. I think that it might be a little expensive getting that information from them.”

“Oh?”

“Well, they do handle millions of yen a day on business days. Weekday slaves, which is what they call reluctant slaves, go for that all by themselves. I doubt they would give up information that could get them arrested for something as small as a couple thousand yen,” Shikamaru stated, huffing a little.

“So we just beat the answer out of them,” Kiba shrugged.

“We can't do that,” Shikamaru answered, “It would draw too much attention to us. Besides, I don't think the sellers would be able to help us find the girl, she's a prize. What did you find out Kiba?”

“Well, from the outside, the buildings that Hinata pointed, had the same kind of smells that the building I gave to Hinata had. I went into two of them, the other two seemed to be warehouses with some pretty heft security. There didn't appear to be any secret rooms or trap doors in the brothels I went into.”

“So most likely she's in one of those two buildings. We just have four days to figure out which one she's in and get her out. No problem,” Shikamaru said to himself. “Do either of you have any experience teaching?”

“I have some,” Hinata volunteered. “Why?”

“I need you to take over teaching Ranma tomorrow while Kiba and I visit the buildings again. Do you know how to play shougi?”

“Yes, although not that often.”

“We'll play a refresher game after dinner,” Shikamaru said. Kiba glared, quite sure that Shikamaru was trying to hit on Hinata. Hinata nodded and smiled pleasantly at Shikamaru. Kiba barely suppressed the growl that rose in his throat.

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Mousse was tired. Shampoo hadn't shown up after she made a delivery, so Mousse had to do all of his work and hers. He was used to that sort of thing happening in Nerima, but the ramen stand was doing better business then the Nekohaten usually did. Mousse thought that the reason for this was a combination of the tourists and nobody being suspiscious of them poisoning their ramen. The Nekohaten had gotten quite the reputation back home.

He walked into the hotel room he was sharing with his long lost cousin and her friends after being told that there was no room for him with Cologne and Shampoo. He wasn't quite sure about her logic, because ducks don't take up that much space, but he really didn't feel like arguing with her. Everyone was waiting for him.

“Well, now that Mousse's here we can have dinner,” Hinata said brightly, getting up from her spot on the bed.

“I guess I could cook something,” Mousse sighed, he had really hoped that he could get a rest before he started work in the morning. “Just let me pick up something at the store first.”

“What are you talking about man?” Kiba asked. “Why would we want to eat something your blind ass cooked?”

“I'll have you know I'm a good cook,” Mousse practically shouted. He really didn't need any of Kiba's shit after the day he had just had.

“Actually Mousse, what I think Kiba is trying to say is that we didn't expect you to cook anything. We were just waiting for you so we could go to dinner,” Hinata interupted, before the argument escalated any further.

“...” Mouse didn't say anything after that. 'I must really be out of it if I thought I could get any cooking done here. There's not even a microwave.' All Mousse really wanted to do was sleep, but he knew that if he didn't get any food in him he would regret it.

“So, where should we eat?” Shikamaru asked.

“There was a good smelling takoyaki stand,” Kiba volunteered.

“I've been on my feet all day. Can't we go to a sit down restaurant?” Hinata asked.

“I would prefer to call it an early night,” Mousse stated, “So that takoyaki stand sounds good to me.”

“I agree with Hinata. A sit down restaurant would be great,” Shikamaru sighed.

“You're such a lazy ass,” Kiba snorted. Shikamaru shrugged as though he was used to hearing such comments.

“That's not a nice thing to say Kiba,” Hinata protested.

“Well, it's true! He's the laziest guy I know!”

“Yeah yeah,” Shikamaru said dismissively. “How about you and Mousse go for takoyaki and Hinata and I go to a sit down restaurant. That way we can practice some shougi without disturbing Mousse.”

“You have a shougi board on you?” Hinata asked, pearing at the ponytailed boy.

“Nah, but I know a place we can go.” Hinata smiled and nodded. She had the same look he had seen on Akane's face when Ranma had managed, despite himself, to do something sweet for her. 'It's odd. I've never seen that look on Shampoo's face. No matter how hard I try to put it there.'

“Stupid Nara,” he heard Kiba mutter as they watched the pair leave. Mousse agreed with the sentiment, but probably not for the same reasons.

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Dinner was good, but unmemorable for Shikamaru. Mostly he was busy trying not to think about the noises Hinata would make during her orgasm. He imagined that she was a gasper. If he closed his eyes he could just see her face flushed, mouth open, chest heaving as each breathy moan escaped her trembling lips.

“Shikamaru?” Her voice came to him from far away.. He blinked, disolving the image of Hinata mid orgasm from his mind.

“Hmmm?” he questioned, very reluctant to make eye contact. 'I don't want her to use those all seeing Hyuuga eyes on me right now.'

“You looked like you were a million miles away. What were you thinking about?”

“Uh... you know...stuff...” he shrugged, trying to appear as though he hadn't just been thinking about giving her orgasms.

“Oh, okay,” Hinata said, obviously worried about his behavior. “Are you ready to play?” Shikamaru pictured all the different games he would like to play with Hinata.

“Uh... yeah... Let's get going.”

There was a surprising amount of people out. They tended to travel in groups of three or more, making the roads a little crowded. Several times Hinata rubbed up against him while trying to avoid collisions with their fellow pedestrians. Finally Shikmaru had had enough. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her against his side. Hinata glanced up at hims startled, then flushed and looked at the ground. For his part Shikamaru tried to ignore the over heated sensation her proximity was causing.

Shikamaru knocked harshly on the door when they reached their destination. There was some grumbling from the other side of the door before it was opened.

“I already told you Ucchan...” Ranma answered, wearing just a pair of pants with a towel around his neck. “Oh, hey man. What are you doing here?”

“We're here to train,” Shikamaru said. “This is Hinata. She's going to be helping you train.”

“O-okay,” Ranma said, letting them into the room. He quickly pulled on a shirt and motioned them to a table where the shougi board was set up. Shikamaru noticed that there was the beginning of a game going. One of the sides was definitely in Ranma's style, but he didn't recognize the opposing side.

“Who were you playing with?”

“Ucchan said that she would help me practice... but she had to leave.”

“Good,” Shikamaru said. “I don't want you training with anyone except me and Hinata. They'll only try to confuse you.”

“What are you talkin' about? Ucchan was just tryin' to help.”

“By letting you win?” Shikamaru asked.

“Huh?”

“You were playing white right?” Ranma nodded, eyes wide. “What was your next move going to be?”

Ranma's brow furrowed as he studied the board. “Uh... I think it was Ucchan's turn...” Impatiently Shikamaru moved the a pawn. The only move that was really an option. Ranma's eyes widened and he smiled excitedly. He moved one of his knight and captured Shikamaru's king.

“Don't you think it's odd that you were able to capture her king without loosing any pieces or capturing any other pieces? That just doesn't happen, so either there is a player out there worse then you or she was letting you win.”

“Why would she let me win? She knows how important winning this tournament is...”

“Her motives don't matter,” Shikamaru stated as he set up the board for a new game. “All you need to do is learn how to play and the best people to do that are myself and Hinata.”

“B-but Shikamaru, you don't know how well I play,” Hinata protested softly.

“Doesn't matter. You're more patient then I am,” he replied, not even looking at her. “First, we'll play a refresher game, then we'll show Ranma how a real game of shougi is played.” he smirked at his opponent.

The game lasted longer then Shikamaru expected. Hinata was a much stronger player then she let on. Either that or he was distracted by the impulse to shove the board of the table, lay Hinata down and mount her.

When Shikamaru won the game he motioned for Hinata to put the board back together. Had it been Ino, or any other girl in Shikamaru's acquaintance, she would have pouted and protested while they set up the game. Instead Hinata just nodded and went about placing tiles on the board.

While she did that Shikamaru took out his pack of cigarettes and pulled one out. He stuck it between his lips, put his pack away and started patting his pockets for a light. He looked up questioningly when he stopped hearing the sound of tiles clicking into place. Hinata had the game set up, and a rather disapproving look on her face.

“I always smoke when I play shougi,” he stated, trying not to sound defensive.

“But this isn't your room,” Hinata argued quietly. “Ranma may not want to sleep in a room that reeks of smoke.”

“Oh, I don't mind,” Ranma stated. “The smoke will cover the smell of wet panda.”

“Wet panda?” Hinata asked. Truth be told Shikamaru had smelled a musty smell.

“Ah...ha ha ha...” Ranma started laughing nervously, scratching at the back of his head “That's... that's just a saying where I come from...”

“Oh...” Hinata said, “What an odd saying. Are there lots of pandas where you come from?”

“Nah, just the one...” Ranma trailed off.

“Well, do you have a light?” Shikamaru asked, after giving up on finding his own.

“Nope.”

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in Hinata's direction, who raised one back at him. He wasn't sure what that meant. 'I need a girl to japanese dictionary,' he thought, before tucking the unlit cigarette behind his ear.

“Alright Ranma,” he said, stretching a little, “Pay attention, this is how a game of shougi should go.” Ranma sat at the middle of the board, trying to look like he was paying attention. About half way through the game he stopped trying to look like he was paying attention. By the time the game was done, Ranma was nodding off. Shikamaru poked Ranma so that he tipped over as a celebration of his victory.

Ranma flailed as he hit the floor then sprang back up to glare at Shikamaru. “What'd you do that for?”

“You were falling asleep,” Shikamaru stated. “I told you to pay attention.”

“But shougi's boring,” Ranma whined.

“Get over it. You said that you need to win.”

“I do have to win.”

“Then start concentrating.”

“I'm trying!”

“Try harder.”

“I'm trying the hardest I can.”

“No you're not-”

“This is getting us no where,” Hinata interrupted. “We're going to leave now. Ranma you get plenty of sleep and I'll meet you tomorrow, at around 10.”

Ranma nodded his understanding, suddenly looking serious. “I'll be ready.” Hinata smiled at him and ushered Shikamaru out of the room. Shikamaru felt a little disgruntled at being herded the way he had been. What he really wanted to do was make Ranma pay attention and take the lessons seriously, but nothing seemed to get through to him.

Shikamaru knew that his feelings were a little disperportionate with the events, but at the moment he didn't really care. “Man, I need a cigarette,” he groused. Patting his pockets again in the vain hope that he would find his lighter. Silently Hinata passed him a book of matches.

“You didn't say you had a light,” Shikamaru accused.

“You didn't ask me.”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes as he lit his cigarette and took a drag. The second the nicotine hit his lungs he felt himself relax. He exhaled away from Hinata, so she wouldn't be mad at him for breathing smoke on her. They walked back to their room in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Kiba was waiting for them when they arrived. He glared silently at them, then motioned toward Mousse, who was snoring softly on the bed next to him. Shikamaru just nodded and shut the door softly.

Immediately Hinata went to her clothes to get ready for bed. Shikamaru groaned internally at the realization that he wasn't going to get any real relief before sleeping with her. 'Bad choice of words,' he thought, picturing what he would do with her if Kiba weren't glaring at him at that very moment.

'No sleep for the wicked,' he thought as he pictured pictured Hinata in various stages of undress.