A/N: Happy Holidays everyone! Here's wishing you all a safe, healthy, and happy new year! May it be filled with laughter and love.

Please Read, Review, and Enjoy! Haha, kudos to anyone that can follow my crack!ish train of thoughts, they really do make sense in a REALLY roundabout way XD

L

Mistletoe

Kagome tries really hard not to laugh, honest, but hey, seriously?

Shikamaru points at (jabs towards) the ceiling, gesticulates wildly to his left, facepalms, then walks sideways whilst arching his back to jut his stomach out.

"What the hell," says Ino's face.

"Pregnancy?" guesses Kagome with a snort, to which Shikamaru treats her with the scene of him stomping his foot with arms on his hips before doing something akin to a (really bad) belly dance, "College? Strippers! Dorama? Naruto as a girl!"

(An indignant "Hey!" is heard.)

He suppresses a groan and makes a vague motion over his head, repeating it again after taking a step to his right. He holds up his hand, palm towards her, hops once in place, and moves back to where he originally stands where he hops twice more.

"For a genius, you suck at this," taunts Naruto, throaty chuckles turning into hacking cackles when he chokes on some spit.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS," declares Kagome and the others are grinning (wow Kagome, giving up already? they think) and thumping her on the back with similar well wishes.

"Finally," snaps Shikamaru and the clamor around Kagome ceases as everyone does a double-take.


She marches around in a circle and then drops to the floor where she lies on her stomach, staring up at him through narrowed eyes.

"Rabid puppies," Shikamaru guesses, quirking a brow.

Kagome looks like she might want to throttle him but simply makes a rapid series of hand seals that could, admittedly, burn the house down if she'd use chakra alongside them.

He hears Naruto and Sakura suck in a breath and notices several others exchange wary glances, but all he does is coolly drawl out, "Iguana."


Kagome smiles widely at the prompt, interrupting Shikamaru from flapping his arms half-heartedly to mimic a flying bird.

"Squash!"

A "what on earth just happened" expression stretches itself across Sakura's face.


Kagome stares at the card she draws, a slight crease marring her brow, frown creeping over her features, and she snaps her fingers.

"Flamenco?" Shikamaru ventures, lips quirking upwards.

She doesn't deign his reaction with a response and instantly mimes a hula girl, swaying her hips and moving her arms rhythmically like waves of the ocean.

"Tessen," he states automatically and Kagome beams.

"HOW DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE," wails Naruto.


Shikamaru waves at her with both hands outstretched before him.

"Superpowers? Magic! ABRACADABRA!"

He shakes his head in frustration and shapes them like kids do when they make shadow puppets of geese or ducks or whatever over projector lights, each bird-like head facing the other.

"War?" Kagome asks in bewilderment.

His hands smash together and he forms a ball with both fists.

She blinks rapidly, considers his hands with pursed lips, and says, "Oh, I get it. Liger."

("What's a liger?" Kiba whispers discreetly, hand covering his mouth as he leans towards Hinata while Shikamaru and Kagome switch roles.)


Kagome crosses her eyes, puffs out her cheeks, and arranges her arms in a Z-formation with her left palm pointing upwards and her right towards the ground, both hands perfectly parallel with the surfaces they face.

"Egyptian wall-paintings," Shikamaru announces immediately.

She shakes her head and blows out her cheeks until they are even bigger, if that is possible at this point, and looks very much like a chipmunk indeed.

He rubs the back of his neck and she glares, simultaneously kicking a nearby stuffed animal at him.

"Emu," Shikamaru sighs at last, chuckling at Kagome jumping and clapping (and he kind of dies a little inside at the heart-melting smile that crinkles the corners of her eyes).


Shikamaru's kneeling on the ground, legs spread and stretching his arms widely above. His right hand closes around air as if he is holding something (a microphone? Kagome doesn't try to analyze it too deeply) and he clenches his eyes shut while he screams inaudibly into his loose fist.

Ino and Chouji curl around each other on the ground, gasping from uncontrollable laughter, and by the looks of it, Naruto seems to have trouble breathing. Kiba is just short of crying into his lap and Hinata has a hand over her mouth as she tries to look anywhere but directly at him (which, coincidentally, lands her sights on Sakura rolling sporadically at Naruto's feet).

"The Green Beast of Konoha," Kagome deadpans, stony-faced, "exploding from the power of youth."

Lee leaps to his feet excitedly and flashes the couple a thumbs-up, a display of blindingly gleaming teeth and golden sparkles.

(Later he corrects her with a sagely "with, Kagome-san, with the power of youth, not from; you can never have too much youthfulness, you see" and she nods dumbly but smiles indulgently nonetheless, thinking she should have expected something like this as it was no surprise which of them wrote that particular card for the game.)


Crap.

Shikamaru props his arm up on a knee and rests his chin in his hand, mind blank.

Kagome continues dancing.

Or at least, he thinks she's dancing (that thing she's doing with her hips should be illegal).

She's probably copying some music video's choreography, he assures himself (because, frankly, he worries over no longer understanding his spontaneous girlfriend someday).

But maybe he should be more anxious about the present.

"I can't believe you just did that," he mumbles under his breath, pink tingeing his cheeks, when Kagome does a splits and her skirt rides up to reveal (more than enough of) her long legs.

"Oranges," he spits out, hurrying to replace her and tear her from their gazes (since no one should know she's that flexible besides him, okay), totally missing the mischievous glint behind her mad grin.


Shikamaru draws from the bag, spares the word a glance, and his eye gives a subtle twitch.

"EGGS," Kagome crows triumphantly and their friends give up trying to figure out how she could possibly reach that conclusion.


Kagome meets his half-lidded gaze head on and he absently straightens in his chair.

She points first at him, then herself, and repeats: him, her, him, her, him, her, him.

She can see the gears working furiously in his brain, and nods three times in confirmation when his eyes brighten marginally in question, before striding confidently up towards him.

Hands reach for his face and cup his jaws, tilting him up while she bends down and forward to press a tender kiss flush on his mouth.

Kagome feels more than sees his smirk and blushes at the warm breath that flutters over her lips when he murmurs "Mistletoe."