1. Toy Soldier, Song, Weir by Killing Heidi
The flew through the tree tops, desperation seeping into their actions. They had to get Sasuke. They had to succeed.
Chouji. Shikamaru's best friend. Chouji had to live. Shikamaru couldn't stand it if he died. He'd be lost.
Shikamaru. He couldn't imagine a world without Shikamaru. Without his smirk, stupid looking pony tail. His lazy attitude hiding a brilliant mind. The smooth line of his body.
Chouji may be Shikamaru's best friend, but Shikamaru was Neji's obsession.
Stupid Hokage. Why'd she send some many Gennin after a full chorus of Sound Jounin.
Neji's mind separated into several tangents, tactical, analytical, and fear. Fear for Chouji. Fear for Naruto. Fear for Kiba. Fear for Shikamaru.
Fear he would fail.
They had to get Sasuke. They had to. They had to survive.
Even if I live, I may not survive this.
"I am your opponent," he hears himself say, poised to fight.
2. Temptation, Song, Tangled by Maroon 5
He was suffocating from the heat of the bodies pressed to him on the dance floor.
Sweat. Heat. Bodies surrounding him. He didn't know how Lee and Tenten had convinced him to come to such a place. Again.
His mind was pleasantly tinted by the sake. His body felt free. Light. Unburdened. Long dark hair feel down his back, swaying with the shifting of his hips. His dance partner pulled him closer. Deeper. Tighter.
He shouldn't. It was a man. He was attached. He shouldn't be dancing with him like this. Again. He shouldn't be tempted. Again.
The other's brow arched. He smirked. He knew he'd won.
As he was pulled to the back room, Shikamaru wondered how he'd let himself be convinced to come here again, to see him here again, and why he wasn't ashamed of himself for doing this to Tamari.
Again.
3. Apart, Song, Not Falling Apart by Maroon 5
Neji hands flew through the pattern of the kata. He was calm. He was one with the flow. He did not feel sadness or joy. He was strong. He would survive.
Shika smiling at him in a sun drenched room, caressing his hair back from his face.
Neji's foot made a quarter turn, his arms following in a graceful arch. He was in control. He needed nothing, he needed no one.
Shika moaning under him, writhing in ecstasy, pushing himself back to meet Neji's thrusts.
Slowly, Neji finished his battle dance. He stood in first position until his breathing calmed. He was fine. He was in control.
He could go to the mission room, deliver his report, and see Shikamaru sitting there. He could do it.
He was fine. He was a Shinobi. He didn't need anyone.
Shika's eyes drifting closed, his hands reaching into Neji's hair as they kissed.
He was fine. He didn't need it.
But he remembered.
4. Betrayal, Song, Spare Me the Details by The Offspring
Temari. Half naked. On the bed. With a Man. Having sex.
But that's not Shikamaru.
Neji froze. Then he smirked. He took out his phone. Opened the camera. Set it to record.
Still and silent, he recorded the gasps, moans, and passionate pleas coming from the bitch's mouth.
Neji's not as smart as Shikamaru. But's he's still a very intelligent man.
Almost silently, Neji withdrew from the room.
Neji picked up the shot glasses. It had taken some time to figure out how to put the drug into the Jager without alerting Temari, or drugging anyone else, but he'd succeeded. He'd never expected such a spectacular success.
Neji's finger flicked over the key pad. He guessed it would take less than two hours for it to get back to Shikamaru.
Shikamaru will be devastated. Smirk. I should definitely make sure I'm there to 'comfort him'.
Neji smirked again. Then he hit the send button.
On his way to the car, he extracted the pre-paid sim card, and threw it down the drain.
--
In the dark room, Temari's partner froze. He suspected he'd heard a noise. He listened carefully, painted face turning to the door. Then Temari pulled him back to kiss her.
Yep, thought Kankuro, going to hell.
5. Aftermath, Song, Bottle by Paul McDermott.
Shikamaru lifted the glass to his lips, slowly swallowing the clear liquid.
Shoulders slumped over the bar, forearms keeping his face from slamming into the bar. One more failed mission. One less friend to greet in the streets.
One more life lost because he wasn't good enough. Not good enough to stop the march of his precious people to the land of the dead.
And if I should die before I wake…
Soft hands take the glass from his. They place it on the bar. Neji lifts him from his stool, and takes him home.
6. Stealth, Song, Secret Agent Man by The Super Jesus
It was almost fun. A rush. A test of his skills and worth as a Shinobi. Silently he navigated the complex. He knew the room his target where his target was located. He knew the cycle of the night guards. They were good. He'd have to be careful.
Shikamaru crept through the compound. He mind lingered on how to finish his target. He held his place for a few moments to deal with the excitement the image elicited.
Through the long corridor, 5 seconds til the next guard, through the room where the servants slept. Finally. The room he sought. Shikamaru glided the door open silently.
His target was in his bed. Asleep. He almost regretted what he was about to do to the angelic looking man.
"Oi", he whispered, "Neji, wake up"
A slow smile spread across Neji's face as he pulled Shikamaru under the covers.
7. Dodging Bombshells, Song, My Vietnam by Pink
Other Jounin had to dodge shuriken. Other Jounin had to face down faceless enemies. Other Jounin got to look their death in the face just before they died, not over the breakfast table each morning.
Other Jounin were secretive by nature, not necessity. Other Jounin didn't have to smile politely at the lover in the street and pretend they didn't know them.
He hated his uncle. He hated his clan. If Shikamaru would go with him, he'd leave, become a missing-nin, and never lay eyes on the lilac death that surrounded him.
"How is your training with Shikamaru going, Nephew" asked Hiashi.
Neji forced his face to remain impassive. It was just like a shuriken. Just like any attack to be dodged.
"Well, Uncle. I keep you informed of my progress" he replied.
His Uncle smirked. Infuriatingly similar to his own arrogant smirk. Neji wished he would wipe it off his face. Instead, he remained impassive.
Just another attack. Another battle.
He would win this just like any other battle.
He would have his lover. He would hold his hand in the street. Even if he had to take down the entire clan to do it.
8. Rest, Song, Angels by Robbie Williams
So beautiful. Almost ethereal. Neji high cheek bones, his pale eyes, his strong face. Sleepily, Shikamaru brought the image to mind.
He borrowed deeper into the bed roll. It was a cold night. He hated the traveling. He hated being away from Neji. He hated sleeping without Neji next to him, face clean of his usual superior look.
Calm. Beautiful. Peaceful. And in his arms.
Shikamaru held the image in his arms. It was a poor replacement for his lover, but it helped him sleep.
--
In his empty bed, Neji hugged his pillow to his chest. It was a poor replacement for his lover, but it helped him sleep.
9. Dreamers, Song, We deal in Dream by Live
Tangled. They were tied to one another, and tangled together. The rookie nine plus three. Each of them was bound to the other, by the bonds of team mates, the bonds of friends, the bonds of their Sensei, the bond of love and marriage. As each year passed, they were tugged closer and closer together.
They achieved more than any rookie class before them. They achieved the unachievable. They dealt in dreams and ambition.
The Rokudaime would preside over the ceremony. Neji's seal would be removed.
And right after that, he would marry Shikamaru.
Two thousand and forty-six moves. That's what he'd needed to get his dream. His husband.
His.
Shikamaru wasn't the only one who could play shougi. Or plan ahead.
They were the dreamers. They were tied together, and traded their dreams for goals between one another until the impossible was real.
10. Like No one's Watching, The Dance by Garth Brooks
A bead. Largish. Ubiquitous. Looking at it, you would find a hundred uses for it. It could be from a woman's trinket.
It belonged to a proud Hyuuga. He used it to tie his pony tail.
It had always been the first thing Shikamaru would take from Neji. The first thing he would do, when alone with Neji, was release the beautiful curtain of hair from it binding. To release his love from his constrictions.
It was always the first thing Shikamaru took from Neji. Now, under sheeting rain, black cloth swallowing his love, it would be the last thing he could keep.
Now he only had the rain to curtain him.
