Notes: For a slight variation of the 20themes that I'm doing. Shikamaru, Shino and a late night conversation.
"Married couples are so troublesome," muttered Shikamaru under his breath as he slid a stone on the goban. "I don't understand why the Hokage keeps pairing them."
"They work well," replied Shino, examining the game closely. "Except when they fight."
Shikamaru lit a cigarette. "They're not fighting. Fighting requires yelling and suggests something physical. They're arguing." Shikamaru placed heavy emphasis on the last word.
Shino carefully placed a black stone in the corner, and without pausing, Shikamaru countered with a white stone. Shino frowned. "Their arguments are so civil that I sometimes wish they would just yell," he admitted. "But I must say that Neji has a valid reason for being angry this time." He paused to signal for another beer from the innkeeper. "Tenten should have told him that she was pregnant before embarking on this mission."
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Shikamaru rubbed his head and muttered. "I would agree with that normally except they're keeping us out of the room."
"Would you rather be a witness?" pointed out Shino, pushing his sunglasses up his nose before placing another cautious stone. He frowned. "You're an excellent player, Shikamaru-san."
"So I've been told," the genius said somewhat wryly, adding another stone. "But Neji should have known better than to try to send her home. She's perfectly capable of taking care of herself." Shikamaru snorted. "If I didn't know him better, I would say that he's thinking of aborting the mission."
"She should have known that he would've discovered her condition sooner or later," pointed out Shino, just as logically. "And we all know how protective Neji is."
Shikamaru blew out a last breath of smoke before stubbing out the remains of his cigarette. "We've all heard it," he said in his driest tone. "They've gotten into enough squabbles, but our illustrious captain should know better than to try after all these years."
Even through the glasses, Shikamaru could feel Shino's piercing gaze. "For all your intelligence, Shikamaru-san, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet," he said mildly as he carefully slid another black stone onto the board. "He's scared."
Shikamaru snorted before adding what he was sure was his last stone. "Neji's not afraid of anything." Sure enough, Shino resigned the game.
"Our illustrious captain," and Shino mimicked Shikamaru's tone so perfectly that the genius was surprised, "is frightened for Tenten."
"Are you sure he's not afraid OF her? She's not exactly the most," he paused for effect, "pacific of women."
Shino shrugged, sipping his beer with deliberate slowness. "He's scared of losing her. As capable as his wife is, there is always the chance that she might not be capable enough. And now that there's a baby on the way..." his voice trailed off.
Shikamaru sighed and fished in his carton for another cigarette. "You think they're done?"
Shino paused and Shikamaru heard a familiar buzz from his teammate's shoulder. "Not yet." Shikamaru ordered another beer from the tired innkeeper while Shino set the goban up for another game.
"Love is so troublesome," grouched Shikamaru. Shino could only agree.
