Notes- All characters were designed adn belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I guess I was suckered into the Valentines day spirit this year, and I got this idea of two peoples who hate the day getting together on it. My idea just fit Shikamaru and Choji so well, i couldn't resist. Hope you all like it. Sorry about the ending, i couldn't quite find what I wanted as an ending so it might seem out of place or rushed.

Valentines Day.

The most important day of the year for some, the most hated for others. It's known for how the romantic atmosphere brings couple together. Hearts are brought together, two peoples become one and so many peoples are made so happy by their other taking the time to send them gifts or see them personally.

But for every heart contented on this day another is broken.

With the traditional importance of today, to not get even an anonymous box of chocolates is almost a sign none of the opposite, or even the same, gender have that deep feeling of love that is so important in the human life. Does it mean you're unwanted? Unloved?

For some it really matters, for some…not so much.

The perfect example of such a person –

"How troublesome. Valentines day is such a drag." Nara Shikamaru tried to somehow push his way down the street, through the mass of couples smiling and loving the day, without using up to much energy.

It wasn't working so well.

"Shikamaru!" The brunette sighed before changing direction and fighting towards the familiar voice.

"Ino." He said in his usual monotone way. He looked down at the blond who was a good three inches shorter then he was.

"So?" Was all she said to him as she examined his face closely, prepared to catch him lying.

"So?" He copied, seemingly just to annoy the blond.

"So, have you gotten anything?"

"Am I supposed to get anything?" The lazy nin smirked as he watched his longtime friend and teammate struggle for words. Secretly he knew what she wanted to say. Of course not, he wasn't supposed to get anything from anyone. If he did, that would mean someone else had a liking for him, someone that wasn't three inches shorter than him, had long blond hair and bright ice blue eyes.

"I was just wondering!" She snapped eventually. To worked up to finish – or remember – what exactly she had planned, Ino stalked off. About two meters away the blond sent a glare back at her crush, only to see him struggling back into the crowd of lovers. With a huff she went off to find Sakura and see if she had been successful in her own Valentines Day mission.

After Sasuke had left, every girl in the village had been forced to find a new crush. A few even tried Shikamaru – Ino was included there – but soon found he wasn't worth the time and effort and left. Ino was the only girl still secretly pining after him, not that he really cared.

Shikamaru was rather surprised to find a small wrapped gift on his table when he got home. He knew Ino had planned to give hers personally, so it couldn't be her. Without anything better to do Shikamaru went in search of his mother for the first time in all his sixteen years of life.

"I don't know who left the gift." Yoshino looked up from her cooking to look at her son. "It was just sitting on the front porch when I went to go see Hina. Lucky it had a tag, or I wouldn't have believed it was for you."

Shikamaru was sure to leave before his mother could go on talking about anything.

"How troublesome." He sighed again as he contemplated leaving the house. After a few minutes his mother came back to finish her conversation with her son, that's when Shikamaru made his decision. Without much thought he left the house, not quite noticing as he grabbed the gift on the way out.

It was almost half an hour later when Shikamaru was able to pull himself out of the stifling crowd and onto the stairs that led to one of his favorite spots in the village. These stairs led to the roof of a building that just happened to be where he made his first real friend, where he saved a boy from his sadness and where the rest of their lives together began. The roof was a simple public place, but not many used it. To him, it had a great view of the sky and was away from the crowded streets of the village below.

Exactly the place he needed to get away from the troublesome love struck activities that Valentines Day brought.

What Shikamaru wasn't expecting, but was pleased to see, was his best friend sitting at his favorite spot, as if waiting for him to come. The bigger nin didn't notice his friend as Shikamaru walked up to him. Choji seemed deep in thought, a somewhat sad look taking over his round features.

Shikamaru knew that look; this was something he'd dealt with every year since he'd met the boy in the academy. Choji was a gentle soul and all he wanted was the acceptance and love of another human being. For some reason the female population didn't even bother to give him a try, so he was left as one of the lonely broken hearts left behind and forgotten on the 14th of February.

"Hey." Shikamaru said quietly as he sat next to the bigger boy.

With a start Choji looked up at his friend, "Uh- hi! I…uh…didn't see you come over."

"Yeah, you seemed really far away." Shikamaru laid down, as he had years earlier when him and Choji had first spent the afternoon watching the white puffs in the sky. "Didn't get anything again?" Shikamaru looked at his friend to see the sadness come back into his eyes. "I don't see why you care, Choji, this day is more troublesome than anything. It's all just troublesome women putting up hearts and expecting chocolates. There's actually nothing more romantic about today than any other day."

"I know…" Choji said quietly. "But…I actually…"

Shikamaru sat up, this was a break in the routine of Valentines Day that he'd become accustomed to over the years.

"I did get something," Choji held out a small box, one that obviously held homemade cookies, "it's from that waitress at the tea shop I go to after missions. We've been getting along really well..."

"So what are you down about?" Shikamaru surprised both himself and Choji with the emotion in his voice. He couldn't understand the sort of anger that he felt in the pit of his stomach.

Choji couldn't help smiling. He'd never seen Shikamaru as flustered as he looked now. He understood why his friend would be confused, he was confused himself. Shikamaru wrinkled his nose and looked away, trying to pinpoint the reason for the feeling.

"I guess she's just not who I really wanted to get this from."

Shikamaru once again looked at his friend, still unable to understand what was going on. He never knew Choji had ever had a certain someone in mind for today. After a minute or so, he gave up trying to understand and started talking again.

"I got something to, though I don't know who gave it to me." He reached into his pocket and brought out the small packet of he-didn't-know-what. Choji looked at it for a second and looked away. "What?"

"Nothing." Shikamaru wasn't just going to let his friend end it at that. Though it was troublesome, for some reason he pressed the conversation.

"Do you know who gave it to me? It doesn't say."

"Um…Yeah, I do." Choji still didn't look around

With a sigh Shikamaru got up to go and look Choji in the face. "Who?"

Then Choji did the most unexpected thing, he burst out laughing. Of all things to do in the middle of a semi-serious conversation.

"What?" Shikamaru took a step back from the laughing boy.

"You…Your hair!" The bigger boy spluttered between laughing fits. For the first time Shikamaru noticed the loose strands of hair that hung in front of his face. He could only imagine what the rest of his head looked like.

"Shut up!" Shikamaru snapped as he struggled to free his hair from the elastic band. "Shit." He moaned after a few fruitless minutes. "It's stuck." He let his hair fall down a round his shoulders. Choji tried to stifle the insane giggling that surged out of him. Shikamaru's hair sat in an awkward puff just over his left shoulder.

"Here, let me help." With his more than expected sigh and some inaudible mumbling Shikamaru sat down in front of his friend. As if it were something eh did everyday Choji started to comb out his friends chestnut hair with his fingers. He went down every other strand to be sure it wasn't part of the immense knot that hung menacingly by Shikamaru's ear. As Choji started to look at the knot itself it almost seemed to be mocking his attempt to undo it.

"This is a really big knot." Choji complained as he slowly and carefully parted strands of dark hair, only to get others caught in the mass.

Silence took over the strange couple. Choji worked diligently at his new mission while Shikamaru examined the ground beneath his feet. It was a comfortable silence between them, with only the slightest hint of awkward.

Another couple minutes went by before the silence was broken. "So, do you like the anonymous gift?"

Shikamaru broke out of his trance and looked at the gift in his hand. "I don't know. I haven't opened it."

"You should." Was all Choji said in reply. Secretly, he was happy to be fighting with his friends' hair, so said friend couldn't see the blush that crept up onto his cheeks. Not to mention he much enjoyed the feel of Shikamaru's hair between his fingers, a feeling he never felt before.

"Troublesome." Shikamaru slowly pulled the ribbon. Once freed the top of the box smoothly opened to reveal the treasure within. Shikamaru gasped.

"Do you like it?" Only the slightest tremor could be heard in the small question. With a sharp tug Choji freed the last few strands from their hold on the elastic.

"I…" Shikamaru was at a loss for words. He reached into the box to take out the small gift. He held it in his hand to look at it. "I…It's beautiful." The gift itself wasn't much. It wasn't even worth anything, by Shikamaru's automatic mental calculations. It was just a black roped made into a necklace that went through a hole made into a shogi piece. But it wasn't just any shogi piece; it was his favorite one, the one he used in almost every one of his strategies. He rubbed his fingers over the wooden surface, turning it over in the process. Again he gasped.

Written in gold ink was just a couple simple words, yet those words meant the world to every human heart. I love you

"I'm glad." The words were almost inaudible over the seemingly distant noise of eth village. Shikamaru turned around to look at his longtime friend, his best friend. He was greeted by a soft smile and shining eyes.

An understanding passed between the two boys in that single instant.

Slowly, instinctively, the two leaned in and shared a single semi-awkward kiss.

They pulled apart pretty quickly. Though now they both knew of their feelings, the bit where the other knows was still new to them.

"Sorry Choji." Shikamaru apologized as he started to put his hair back up.

Fear rushed into the larger boys eyes. "You're not breaking up with me are you?" Shikamaru gave him a weird look.

"Uh…no…"

"Then why are you apologizing?" Choji watched Shikamaru almost proudly as the nin attached his new necklace around his neck.

"I didn't get you something in return."

"You didn't -"

"I'm not." Shikamaru sent a smile over his shoulder before he started down the stairs. "Ino did." And so he went in search of the troublesome blonde and the gift he knew he'd receive from her.

Maybe Valentines Day wasn't all bad.