History

A/N: Okay, here’s the deal. I had a good time writing Something Has Got to Give, mostly because it brought me back together with ShikaNejiShika. crazyaanglover of deviantART even drew me some saucy fan art for it! http://crazyaanglover.deviantart.com/art/Call-You-Back-124925874

So here is the sequel, written with love for my fan artist. At present, I think it’s the only other story I’ll write for this AU (since I’ve got a WIP that can no longer be ignored). This one is three completed chapters of what amounts to PWP (don’t ask me why it required three chapters, I don’t have an answer). If you’re in need of a ShikaNejiShika fix, this here’s the place to be…

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters. I make no money from the writing of this story.

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Warning: unbeta’d; angst; humor; violence; yaoi

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It was Haku who spotted him first.

He noticed the handsome muscular man sitting alone in a booth on the other side of the restaurant, trying to observe their table without being obvious. Haku remembered him from the days when he and Shikamaru had been an item. Physically, the man hadn’t changed.

Haku looked across to Zabuza, only to realize he’d spotted him as well. The former wrestler’s shifting eyes and tense physicality spoke volumes.

Zabuza returned Haku’s stare. Be ready, it told the small, pretty man.

Haku nodded almost imperceptibly in response.

There were four of them sitting in the booth. Shikamaru had suggested lunch at a nearby restaurant, and Zabuza agreed to come along. This, invariably, meant that so would Haku, and now Neji. Tenten had elected to remain behind to complete a module, and it just so happened that Rock Lee was brown-bagging it that day.

Lunch thus far had been a pleasant affair of amiable chatting over tasty lunches while seated at a booth next to the window—even if the main topic of discussion was the work monkey on everyone’s back.

“It will work itself out, it always does”, Neji was heard to say. “I won’t let them furlough any of us.”

“How can you prevent it?” Shikamaru asked, looking at his boss and lover.

Neji smiled back. “The same way I have the last couple of times a situation like this has reared its unpleasant head. Give me some credit, Shikamaru. I am not without my resources.”

Shikamaru smirked at Neji’s statement as he watched the pale-eyed man drink from his water glass. He had become well-acquainted with Neji’s ‘resources’ since the two of them had evolved from merely working together to sharing a bed at night, and wondered if his more intimate ones had been employed to prevent job losses on their team. He wouldn’t put it past their company’s upper management to have manipulated Neji into that kind of a situation. In addition to being exceptionally sharp and flawlessly good-looking, Neji was considerably loyal to his subordinates. In his mind, as the manager he worked for his team, not the other way around.

Shikamaru resolved to ask his lover at home later that evening, even though he didn’t think he’d get an answer. Neji had a one-track mind whenever they were alone together away from the office.

Their server, who had been bustling hither and yon to meet the lunch rush demand, approached their table, water pitcher in hand.

“How is everything?” the server asked as he refilled the water glasses. “Would anyone care for dessert?” He looked at the patrons in the booth, his gaze lingering a bit on the petite, long-haired brunet.

Said brunet raised his hand. “I’ll have a slice of key lime cheesecake”, he informed their server with a grin.

“One slice of key lime cheesecake. Anyone else?” the server responded, returning the brunet’s grin.

“Bring the check when you return with his cheesecake please”, Neji told him in an authoritative voice.

His cheesecake? “Sure thing”, the server responded after a moment’s hesitation, his grin fading. He furrowed his brows briefly as he walked away.

Haku looked at Neji, who sat next to him, and smiled. “I love that game”, he announced.

“I can tell”, Neji responded, smirking.

Both men were young and remarkably pretty. But while Neji’s voice and build unambiguously announced his gender, Haku, with his small body, classic bone structure and brown doe eyes was often mistaken for female. It didn’t help that he was constantly in the company of good-looking men.

If it was unique to see a man of Neji’s exotic beauty, seeing the two men together was a phenomenon. They had had received the gamut of reactions from people since they’d begun spending time together in public. Neji was growing accustomed to those stares and whispers as he was getting comfortable with their friendly dynamic, and had now begun to enjoy them along with Haku.

Zabuza and Shikamaru eyed the two men from across the booth. “Are you two done toying with the guy’s emotions?” Shikamaru asked. He enjoyed watching them play the game as well. If it wasn’t so entertaining he would pity the inherent predictability of his gender.

“It’s not our fault we’re so sexy. You should try it some time”, Haku gibed.

“No he shouldn’t”, Neji responded without missing a beat, and Zabuza chuckled.

He had initially felt threatened by Neji’s new role as Shikamaru’s lover. After all, this wasn’t the same as when Shikamaru dated before. This man was their boss. But Zabuza soon realized that, no matter whom Shikamaru dated he wouldn’t allow the relationship to displace his friendships. Moreover, Neji seemed to accept Zabuza’s and Shikamaru’s friendship, even if his possessive nature made it seem a grudging one.

“You obviously like playing that game too”, Zabuza assessed.

Haku made a cute face. “Hey, he’s not my boss”, he responded, smiling.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t know where you live”, Neji told Haku, and everyone laughed.

Shikamaru sighed and moved to slide out of the booth. “I’ll be right back”, he announced, stood up and walked toward the bathroom.

Everyone at the table followed him with their eyes, none of them missing the solitary man across the crowded room who was now obviously watching him as well.

Haku looked at Zabuza, and then at Neji before the server returned with the cheesecake and the check.

“Key lime cheesecake”, he announced in a cheerful voice as he set the plate in front of Haku, pointedly avoiding the man’s eyes. He then set the fold containing the bill on the table in front of Neji, who was still looking in the direction of the bathroom.

“He needs a takeout box for the cheesecake”, Zabuza announced in that no-nonsense, you-better-pay-attention-to-what-I’m-telling-you voice, forcing the server to look up at him.

“No problem”, the server responded, scurrying away.

Haku bit his lip. The current situation was a recipe for disaster. None of them needed a brawl at a restaurant in the middle of a workday lunch rush, but with Shikamaru’s friend and protector next to him and his boss, lover and protector across from him, he couldn’t see it going any other way.

The muscled man across the room got up and walked toward the bathroom. Two seconds later, so did Neji.

“I’ll be right back”, he announced without looking at either of them and walked toward the bathroom.

Zabuza and Haku exchanged knowing glances.

Shit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“You’re kidding me”, Shikamaru deadpanned at the sight of his former lover standing outside as he pulled open the bathroom door.

Kiba Inuzuka stood at the bathroom entrance, his hands fingers jammed into the pockets of his denim jeans. He made a thorough and appreciative assessment of his former lover and smiled. “It’s been a long time, Shika. You’re looking good.”

Shikamaru ignored Kiba’s attempt at small talk. “You’re in my way”, he informed him.

“You’re in that much of a hurry to get back to work?” Kiba asked.

“Well, I wasn’t when I came in here”, Shikamaru responded.

Kiba folded his bulging arms and leaned in close enough for Shikamaru to smell his cologne. “Come on, Shika, you can’t tell me you haven’t missed me a little”, he purred in a come-hither voice, all the while eating the man with his eyes. Kiba still remembered how good that lithe, vigorous body felt against his.

Shikamaru shook his head as the familiar scent of the man’s cologne filled his nose. “I’m done with you, Kiba. Now move.”

“If you say so”, Kiba responded, moving forward.

Shikamaru held his ground, bracing his hand against the large man’s chest. “I meant back off”, he told him sternly.

Kiba cocked his head to one side. “Are you sure?” he purred.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. Kiba hadn’t changed. He was still an arrogant prick.

“That’s what it seemed like to me”, a voice from behind Kiba announced.

Fuck.

Both men stiffened before Kiba turned around.

A man as tall as he was stood before him. Kiba recognized him as the man who sat across from Shikamaru at their booth.

Kiba gave him a thorough once-over. He had to admit that the man was easily the prettiest he’d ever seen. The guy looked like a prom queen with those eyes, that smooth, pale skin and all that long, dark hair.

Especially those pale, gray eyes. Or were they actually…lavender? Whatever their color they were riveting…seductive, even.

Kiba quirked a brow, having decided he liked what he saw.

Neji was momentarily stunned. The wall of muscle was even bigger up close—the guy was broader than Zabuza, but shorter. He was handsome and very well-built, Neji couldn’t help but admit. His short, brown bed-hair was a warmer shade of brown than his own and his body tapered quite nicely from broad shoulders down to a flat stomach and lean hips encased in tight dark-blue jeans. And then there was that pair of red tattoos, one on each cheek, which actually resembled fangs.

Neji thought they went well with the predatory look the man was giving him.

Although Kiba’s large body still blocked Shikamaru’s exit from the men’s room, Neji was able to make brief eye contact with him over the man’s shoulder.

“And who might you be?” Kiba asked in a pleasant voice. He’d turned off his seduction technique in favor of something different.

Neji was far from impressed—or amused. “Well, I might be a guy in a hurry to take a leak”, he responded, slipping a hand into one of the pockets of his pants. “But I happen to be Shikamaru’s boss.”

Kiba’s eyes lit up. So Shikamaru had a gay boss.

He was awfully alpha for such a pretty gay man. Someone less enlightened wouldn’t know what to make of him.

Interesting.

He wasn’t Kiba’s type. He was too tall, too pretty and far too alpha for Kiba’s disposition. That didn’t mean Kiba couldn’t appreciate the idea of making him submit, or that he wasn’t, at that very moment in his mind.

What might Shikamaru think of this pretty alpha boss of his if Kiba revealed to him that the man spent the evening on his knees stuffing his face with Kiba’s cock?

Very interesting.

Kiba moved forward, not unlike an animal stalking prey. “You got a name, boss?” he asked.

Neji resisted the urge to make a face. “Not that I’m at all inclined to share with you”, he replied calmly. Thank goodness he’d had the foresight to conceal his employee badge before making his presence known.

He made a performance of meeting Shikamaru’s eyes over the man’s shoulder. “Shikamaru, we need to get going”, he announced in an authoritative voice.

Shikamaru nodded wordlessly, a nominal attempt to offer reassurance.

But Kiba wasn’t satisfied. “Shika and I were in the middle of something”, Kiba told Neji. “You’ll get him back when I’m done with him.”

Motherfucker.

Neji’s eyes transformed from cool to downright scary. This…intruder in front of him had some nerve.

Neji needed to maintain his calm. If he reacted the way he really wanted to he’d be giving himself away as Shikamaru’s lover after already revealing himself to be his boss, and at the moment that wasn’t a good idea. This wasn’t the time or the place to reveal the truth about their relationship.

“Shikamaru is coming back to the office with us”, Neji announced, keeping an even level to his authoritative voice. “Right now.”

Kiba quirked a brow. So the girlfriends were sticking together, eh?

He moved closer to the attractive man, whose eyes had transformed into something that would have been formidable if Kiba didn’t know how big and powerful he was but that Kiba still found incredibly sexy.

“I can tell you’re new, so I’m going to let you off with a warning”, Kiba informed Neji. “Shika and I have a history that you know nothing about. Be on your way. I’ll send him back to work when I’m done.”

History.

Neji’s heart ached. His suspicion that this man was someone Shikamaru once knew had been spot-on. He hated it that he’d been right. It made him want to annihilate the man all the more.

The bastard was encroaching. He had no call to be there, in the space between him and Shikamaru, filling their personal zones with his hulking presence.

Daring to claim squatter’s rights.

Neji had earned Shikamaru. They were together now, and happy. Neji would be damned if he allowed this guy to breeze in from Shikamaru’s past and take him back.

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Shikamaru stood quietly in the doorway of the bathroom, watching his present collide with his past. He wished that the exchange of highly-charged words would be the end of it, but he knew better.

Particularly since Zabuza had yet to make his inevitable appearance.

Kiba knew Zabuza only too well. He’d paid a visit to the office after Shikamaru moved out of their apartment and took up temporary residence on Zabuza’s couch the previous year, demanding to see the man who’d allegedly ‘interfered’. In spite of Shikamaru’s plea to ignore him, Zabuza met Kiba in the parking lot. What followed was a seemingly endless bloody-knuckle battle royale that took seven people to break up. It left Zabuza with a black eye and split lip and Kiba doubled over in pain.

There had been no more visits after that day, and no more phone calls either. Kiba slipped as quietly as he knew how from Shikamaru’s life, never to be seen or heard from again.

Until today.

“So troublesome”, Shikamaru sighed from behind Kiba. He closed the door of the bathroom and then turned the bolt to lock it before Kiba realized what had happened.

Kiba turned and tried to push open the door, but in vain. It frustrated him before he realized the situation hadn’t really changed. Shikamaru still had to get past him to get out of the bathroom.

But what was he doing in there?

Kiba turned back to face Shikamaru’s boss, only to come face-to-face with six feet and three inches of brute force invading his own personal space.

“You should have known better.”

The voice of Shikamaru’s friend hadn’t changed. It was still a deep and imposing monotone intended to strike fear in the hearts of his opponents. If that wasn’t enough, the man was bigger than he’d been a year ago.

Kiba gulped. He didn’t want to have to tussle with this beast another time. He pissed blood for three days after their last encounter. The kid was a wrestler with a zany amount of speed and strength, not to mention a killer instinct.

Still, Kiba wasn’t satisfied. He’d followed Shikamaru to this restaurant from his office building with every intention of convincing him to take him back, and he wasn’t about to just give up.

Where had the alpha prom queen gotten off to? Kiba forced himself not to try to look around his opponent.

“I remember you. You’ve got some weird name that starts with an unusual letter, Q or Z or something. What was it?” Kiba asked in a mocking tone.

“Zabuza”, the man announced. “Try to remember it while I’m punching your head through the wall.”

Kiba made a face. “Aw, how cute! You’re still baby-sitting Shika after all this time. Or have you finally succumbed to your latent homosexuality and given in to his charms?”

That was all it took. Zabuza moved in a flash, gripping the front of Kiba’s shirt in his fist and slamming him against the back wall, the force of it pushing the air from the man’s lungs and causing his head to bounce off a framed photograph, cracking its glass shield.

Kiba grunted.

“Either way the game hasn’t changed. If you want Shikamaru you’ve got to get through me first”, Zabuza challenged.

Just then both men heard Shikamaru emerge from the bathroom. Zabuza tightened his hold on the man’s shirt and pushed him harder against the wall in response, causing Kiba to grit his teeth.

“That’s fine with me”, Kiba growled. “I’ll give you a black eye to match the one I gave you last time.”

“Then make your move”, Zabuza invited.

Kiba was frustrated. This wasn’t going at all the way he’d planned. He expected that time would fix things, but it hadn’t. Shika was still surrounded by a fan club that catered to him as though he were the celebrity. This Zambezi was as straight as a nail—why did he even care what Shika did, or with whom? But here they were, and there was no doubt in Kiba’s mind that Zambuca, or whatever the hell his name was, was totally prepared to beat him to a pulp where they stood over Shika.

Why hadn’t he come around after all this time? Hadn’t Shika cared for him?

“Is there a problem here?” Another authoritative voice announced.

Zabuza looked over his shoulder to find two uniformed policemen standing there. Behind them stood Neji and Shikamaru, and probably Haku, who was so short he wouldn’t have been visible.

Zabuza backed up, releasing his hold on Kiba’s shirt, and turned to the gathering, shaking his head.

He started to walk past the officers until one of them stepped in front of him. “Just hold on”, the officer commanded.

“Officer, he’s with us”, Neji spoke up from behind where they stood.

A check of the badge hanging from a lanyard around Zabuza’s neck corroborated Neji’s statement.

The officer turned to Neji then. “Get your people out of this restaurant”, he directed.

“Yes sir”, Neji responded.

The officer moved aside to allow Zabuza to pass. Holding his take-out container of cheesecake in a vice-like grip, Haku turned and led the queue of them out of the restaurant without another word.

Both officers turned back to where Kiba stood adjusting his clothing.

“Officers, thank goodness you’re here. I’d like to press charges against ‘the Matterhorn’ there for assault”, Kiba announced, jerking his head toward Zabuza’s retreating form.

“Before or after you explain why you unlawfully attempted to imprison his colleague in the men’s room?” one of them responded.

Kiba frowned.

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After it was confirmed that no one had been physically hurt, the foursome drove back to work in awkward silence. Shikamaru was trying and failing to look unaffected by all that had occurred, not able to meet what he suspected were Neji’s disappointed eyes.

The remainder of the work day seemed to drag on endlessly. It was astonishing how little was achieved while trying not to remain preoccupied with the afternoon’s events.

When the work day was finally over, Shikamaru and Neji left in their respective vehicles. They hadn’t spoken to each other much after lunch, and what conversation they did share had been confined to work issues. It was their rule that they behave themselves during business hours, and it seemed much easier to follow than usual.

Shikamaru went home and had a bath, preferring to skip his usual trip to the gym. He didn’t want to eat or communicate with anyone. As he sat submerged to his armpits in the warm, bubbly vanilla-scented bath water he allowed his mind to wander where it would.

God, what was that imbecile doing back now, after a year?

Shikamaru had found himself a new apartment, bought new furniture, and moved on. The emotional aspect of that had been difficult to bear. He loved Kiba, and the man’s betrayal stung him to the point where the word ‘date’ had become the proverbial four-letter one. He clung to the workday hours, not only because he had good friends where he worked, but because it helped to balance out those endless nights of solitude. Shikamaru was a man who had always thrived on physical affection, and going without it for so long had been…

He’d endured the routine of internalizing the breakup and shedding the requisite tears before deciding that even for a woman, which he clearly was not, enough was enough.

Not long after that, Neji had come along.

Technically, he’d been there the entire time. But he was Shikamaru’s boss and he had been involved with someone else. Still, Shikamaru couldn’t help but admit to having found him attractive from the first day.

Neji was a paradox. He was a sexy pretty boy with a masculine demeanor. He was highly skilled software engineer who took his job seriously. When he wasn’t at work he was a different person, with the best sense of humor and the libido of an eighteen-year-old.

And he was hot for Shikamaru. Of that there was no question. Shikamaru could hardly believe it when Neji revealed his attraction to him that night at Patterson’s happy hour just one month ago. Since then they’d carried on like a couple of horny teenaged boys. Shikamaru was happy again.

Or, perhaps Shikamaru was finally happy.

Daring to contemplate a future with Neji was a double-edged sword. After all, he’d done that with Kiba, only to have it blow up in his face. And as much as he’d like to believe that Kiba and Neji were worlds apart, he couldn’t afford to deceive himself in that regard. They had both been jocks, and were leaders in their respective fields. They were both handsome alpha males with incredible sex drives who made lots of money and drove fancy sports cars.

There was an important difference, though. Kiba had always insisted that Shikamaru make him the sun in his universe. And in the beginning of their relationship it was something Shikamaru wanted to do. It was easy, fun even.

Eventually, though, having one celestial body in orbit around his insatiable ego was no longer enough for Kiba.

To Neji, Shikamaru was the sun. He had been shocked to learn that, beyond Shikamaru’s many close friendships there hadn’t been anyone locked in orbit around him.

Neji had gleefully assumed that role at some risk and then spent the past month reminding him at every opportunity how lucky he felt. Not just with words, but with care and devotion. Neji adored Shikamaru. He pampered and spoiled him to excess, especially with those kisses and cuddles he needed so much.

They hadn’t used the word love. It was far too soon for that. But there was mutual, honest-to-goodness care, Shikamaru was sure of that.

Shikamaru hadn’t counted on what happened at the restaurant to occur. But it had, and now Shikamaru felt like a fraud. He knew he shouldn’t feel ashamed about his relationship with Kiba; it had been a year since it ended and Shikamaru had been faithful to Neji since they’d become an item.

Still, he couldn’t help feeling like Kiba’s return had somehow made Shikamaru look like a liar in Neji’s eyes.

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A/N: All right! In this chapter we learn that Kiba the arrogant prick is the man who broke Shikamaru’s heart. Can you tell I love Kiba? I can’t seem to be able to write NejiShika without him. Go figure…

What do you think of this sequel? Please leave a review with your thoughts.

Another chapter is coming soon. Please stay tuned!