Love is Troublesome
DG32173
Sarah: wow, my first ever pure Shika/Saku pairing fic. I've been reading a lot of fics with this pairing lately, and I have to admit I rather like it.
DISCLAIMER: If I owned the Naruto series, Sasuke wouldn't be a jerk, wouldn't be obsessed with killing his brother, and would get a girlfriend who wasn't one of the star girls; guys would be tripping over themselves to ask Sakura out; Sakura wouldn't doubt her abilities at all; Naruto would realize Hinata likes him; and a bunch of other stuff. So since none of that happens, obviously I don't own it.
WARNINGS
Rated M for future content. You have been warned.
SUMMARY
Shikamaru and Sakura get paired up for an undercover mission. But why did their cover have to be fiancées? And is trouble brewing for Leaf? What, exactly, is Cloud up to? (Shika/Saku)
NOTE
(Authors note)
"Talking"
'Thinking'
Scene change
POV change
Memory, reading or writing something, etc. (you'll figure it out)Scene change in memory
TRANSLATIONS
Itai: ow
Chapter 1
Mission
"Shikamaru-san, Hokage-sama wants to see you," a messenger nin says upon finding the lazy nin in his usual field, watching clouds.
Shikamaru sighs and sits up. "How troublesome," he mutters, standing up. The messenger nin nods, then takes off for the Hokage tower. Shikamaru follows at a much slower pace. When he reaches Tsunade's office, twenty-five minutes later, he notices Sakura sitting in one of the chairs, a look of impatience and irritation on her face. "You sent for me, Tsunade-sama?" he asks.
Tsunade nods. "Yes, I have a mission for you. Both of you," she says. Shikamaru sighs and takes a seat in the other chair. Both Anbu look at Tsunade expectantly, waiting for her to give them the details of their mission. Tsunade sighs. "It seems that Cloud is up to something. I've been given reason to believe that they may be planning something against us. Also, there is an annual conference coming up to sort out treaties between the Hidden Villages. Each Village is required to send representatives to the conference, and this year it's being hosted in Cloud. I have chosen you to go to this conference as you two are the best tacticians and politicians we have. I want you two to go under the guise of fiancées and snoop around to see if you can find out what Cloud is up to. The conference will last one month. I want regular reports on what is going on. In sync with the conference will be a romance festival; you might get information from those who attend the festival.." (I borrowed the idea from deleria; hope you don't mind if your reading this!)
Sakura and Shikamaru look ready to protest acting as fiancées, but merely nod and say, "Yes, Tsunade-sama."
"When does this conference start?" Sakura asks.
"This Friday." It's now Monday. "I want you to leave tomorrow so you can get there and make connections before the conference."
"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura says. Shikamaru merely nods.
Later that afternoon
"Thought I'd find you here," a voice says softly, alerting him as to who was approaching. She sits down beside him and looks up at the clouds. "What do you think of the mission, Shikamaru-san?" she asks.
He shrugs, not taking his eyes off the clouds. "It's going to be troublesome," he mutters.
She laughs. "Everything is troublesome to you. Except watching clouds and sleeping, of course," she chuckles.
"Bingo. What are you doing here anyways, Sakura-san? Shouldn't you be packing?"
"I already did, and I could say the same about you."
"Done already," he says.
She grins. "You know, we have to play the role of 'fiancées'. We should ditch the 'san', Shikamaru," she says thoughtfully.
"True, Sakura." He decides he likes how easily her name rolls off his tongue.
Sakura smiles at him, then turns her eyes back to the sky. "Clouds are amazing," she says softly. "They just float in the sky, not worrying about what happens down here on earth. And when the wind comes along to play, the clouds change shape as the wind sees fit. I wish I was a cloud; no worries about the life of a kunoichi, even if I am a medic-nin. I could just float around in the sky all day and night, going wherever the winds take me."
Shikamaru sends a surprised look her way. That is pretty much what he thinks of clouds. "Interesting," he says softly.
"You agree, Shikamaru?" she asks, turning her eyes to look at him. He nods before returning his eyes to the sky. She smiles softly, then returns her attention to the sky as well. "Have you been to Cloud before?" she asks softly.
"A few times, why?"
"I've never been. What's it like?"
"Cloudy, all the time; the sun almost never comes out and it rains a lot."
"Sounds gloomy."
"I guess."
"Well you're sure talkative today." Sarcasm.
"…"
"I think we should get to know each other a little better."
"…why?"
"Well, if we're to fake fiancées, we have to know each other rather well. It would be that much easier if we got to know each other better now than during the journey to cloud. And I'm sure you relate easy to less troublesome."
"… good point."
"So you want me to start this off?!"
"… Sure."
"Lazy bum."
"Thanks."
"Ugh."
"That's not a question."
"What's your favorite color?"
"Blue. Yours?"
"Same as yours, blue. Favorite food?"
"Too troublesome to choose."
"Well mine's skittles."
"That's not food, that's candy."
"Candy is food!"
"Whatever. Is your hair naturally pink?"
"Okaa-san would kill me if I dyed my hair."
"But you don't live with her."
"I've had pink hair my whole life. If I dyed it when I was younger, I'd have been grounded until either my natural hair color came back out or I moved out of the house."
"Good point."
"Did you ever like Ino?"
"… What?"
"I said, did you ever like Ino?"
"I heard you the first time. And it depends on what you mean by 'like'."
"As a potential girlfriend."
"No. Just as a friend. When'd you get over … him?"
"… a long time ago. Did you ever like any girl as a potential girlfriend?"
"Yeah."
"Who?"
"Too troublesome to say."
"Now that's just avoiding the question!"
"I know. What're your hobbies?"
"I like to read, play shogi and go, watch clouds, and stargaze."
Smirk. "What, no shopping for the fun of it?"
Laughter. "Nah, I don't like wasting money on trivialities when I can save it for more important things. I only ever do it if Ino drags me off to shop somewhere and insists I buy at least a 'few' things. By her standards, a 'few' things are at least a thousand yen worth of stuff."
"Yeah, Ino loves to shop."
"What about your hobbies? Other than watching clouds of course."
"Stargazing, playing strategy games, read a bit, and being lazy."
"Ah! So it's a hobby of yours to be lazy!"
"Yep."
"Thought so; nobody's that lazy without trying. What kind of books you like?"
"So long as it's nonfiction, I don't care."
"Wow! Me too. Seems we have a lot in common. Well, discounting the laziness."
"I suppose."
"Shikamaru! Now your just trying to avoid the conversation!"
"I know." BAM! "ITAI! That hurt! You hit harder than Ino!"
"Then stick to the conversation!"
Sigh. "Fine."
Sakura and Shikamaru spend the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other. And like Sakura said, they do have a lot in common.
Sarah: well, that's it for chapter one. Yeah, yeah, I know. The whole "let's play fiancée/newlyweds" thing is overused, and so is having people go undercover to find out if Konoha's in trouble or not. But ya know what? I don't give a damn.