But Don't Stop
Story Summary: Neji and Shikamaru find it harder to keep their relationship running smoothly than they expected- can they work it out or are they just too different? Sequal to Make Your Move.
Story Pairing(s): Neji x Shikamaru with a side of Shino x Kiba, Naruto x Hinata, Chouji x Ino, Lee x Sakura, Kakashi x Iruka, and Inari knows who else!
Overall Rating: T for some language, fighting, making out, and insinuated sex; could be a higher rating, but I think this is fine.
Chapter Summary: The Nara still isn't completely over Kiba.
Chapter Pairing(s): Neji x Shikamaru, Chouji x Ino, mentioned Kiba x Shikamaru and Kiba x Shino
Chapter Rating: T for mild language and angst.
Author's Note: Thankyou to Paachaaaw, BrevityofWit, and SilveryKitsune for requesting a sequal. I apologize for the long wait, but I was having trouble thinking of a plot.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Naruto.
chapter one
"N-Neji-niisan, you're staring off into space again," Hinata murmured. Neji snapped out of his trance, shaking his head to clear the fog.
"My apologies, Hinata-sama," he said, resting an elbow on his knee, contemplating his next move in their game of Shogi. As Hinata had yet to redeem herself against Shikamaru, their lessons had not ceased. He sighed and pushed a pawn, eyes flicking away towards the clouds. Hinata watched this.
"How is Shikamaru-kun?" she queried. Neji sighed. Hinata had been the one to greet him at the front gate when he had returned- sodden, sleepy, and more than just a little disarranged. Without asking, she'd fetched towels and a dry set of clothes for him and hadn't brought it up again, though she definitely had a good idea what happened... about the Shogi game, at least. Perhaps not afterward. He frowned.
"He is doing well. Back to being lazy and spending all his time cloud-gazing," he glanced at the board and his brow wrinkled. "Hinata-sama, that isn't a good move. Please explain why not and do something else."
Hinata blushed and studied the board before stammering out a few reasons and replacing the piece before making an alternate move. She waited, then waved an impassive hand over her cousin's eyes. She giggled a little when there was no reaction. Slowly, Neji blinked and turned his attention to the game. Despite his languid demeanor, he was still obviously winning the game. He sighed and checkmated Hinata. Her smile flipped, becoming a frown.
"O-oh, I didn't see that move," she said. Neji heaved a sigh, vexed that after nearly a month and a half of training his cousin was still barely a novice at Shogi. How could she possibly keep hoping to defeat Shikamaru? She looked up as Neji stood, tying his hitai-ate on over the white cloth he always, always wore to cover the seal. She smiled, "Are you going to see Shikamaru-kun, Neji-niisan?" Neji only nodded and left, knowing Hinata would take care of the board.
- - -
"Let's take a break, ne?" Ino suggested, breathing deeply and wiping the sweat from her brow. Chouji and Shikamaru both stopped what they were doing and nodded. Ino spread a blanket on the ground and produced a basket of food, seemingly from nowhere. Chouji took his seat next to Ino and Shikamaru sat across from them. Ino leaned towards Chouji and he discreetly put his hand on hers. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.
"What's for lunch today?" Shikamaru mumbled, crossing his legs and reclining on the soft, white and red checkered blanket.
"The usual," Ino supplied, unpacking the food. "Shika-chan(1), sit up if you're going to eat," she snapped. Shikamaru sighed and muttered something about troublesome women and grudgingly righted himself.
"And Neji isn't troublesome?" Chouji asked around a mouthful of food. Ino looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed and he muttered something inaudible under his breath.
"Who told you?" he asked, frowning. Chouji shrugged.
"No-one." Shikamaru raised a questioning brow at him this time. "I was going to see if you were back to cloud-gazing the other day when I spotted you sitting with the Hyuuga. Correct me if I'm wrong, but something must have happened between you two for him to be able to get you out of that house willingly."
"We tried for weeks!" Ino interjected, disappointed that Neji had succeeded so easily where she and Chouji had struggled. Chouji gave her hand a soft squeeze. Shikamaru's eyebrow ticked.
"We played a game of Shogi. That's all," he muttered. Chouji raised both eyebrows at this and Ino looked between the two.
"And...?" she prodded, "Who won?"
"Neither of us," Shikamaru shrugged, shifting a little in his discomfort at being interrogated so thoroughly, knowing he would not (could not) lie to his friends, but certainly not wanting to disclose the true events of that night.
"A tie?" Chouji suggested. Shikamaru shook his head, sighing and muttering troublesome under his breath.
"The board got flipped over and the game wasn't finished. As it stands, Neji still owes me the two pieces I lost because of him," he explained half-heartedly. Chouji and Ino nod like they know that can't possibly be all. Shikamaru grimaced at their closeness, wondering if he and Neji would ever be a couple and sit close like that.
Even more deviously, his mind wondered if Shino and Kiba sat that close.
Now thoroughly disturbed, he got up and stalked away, leaving a confused Chouji and Ino. The two looked at each other, brows raised.
"He's been pretty moody lately," Chouji observed. Ino sighed.
"What is his problem!?" She scowled. Chouji looked anywhere but at her, feigning innocence. Ino was one of the few who hadn't discovered Shikamaru and Kiba's relationship. He finally looked at her and they shared a smile before she gave him a quick peck on the lips. He blushed and they finished their food in companionable silence.
- - -
As expected, Shikamaru was lounging in the tall grass, watching the clouds intently. When Neji approached he could see the fine lines in the younger nin's brow, betraying his aggravated thoughts. Shikamaru offered no greeting as Neji took a seat in the grass a short distance away. Neji watched the clouds for a peaceful moment, enjoying the warm sunlight on his face.
"Shikamaru-kun," he said, looking at the shadow nin next to him, "Let's go do something. It's nearly lunch- how does ramen sound? My treat."
"I don't want to go anywhere," Shikamaru muttered, glowering up at the clouds, "I'm comfortable here." Neji chuckled, shaking his head.
"I swear, you get lazier every passing day," he teased. Shikamaru sighed and shrugged as best one can while lying down. Neji frowned.
"It's too troublesome to get up..." Shikamaru mumbled, closing his eyes and feigning sleep. Neji's frown deepened.
"Shikamaru, get up. We're going to eat lunch," he demanded. Something gave him a feeling that Shikamaru had been too 'lazy' to make breakfast that morning, either, or dinner the night before, or lunch, or breakfast. Or any meals at all, in the past few days. Shikamaru grunted and made a face.
"I don't wanno ma!" he whined, mimicking a childish voice. Neji rolled his eyes.
"Come on," he urged, temping the shadow nin, "It'll be a date." Shikamaru stuck out his tongue before shifting to a more comfortable position in the soft grass. Neji's eyes narrowed as he suppressed a frustrated sigh. As much as he loathed to use the Nara's catch phrase, this was indeed troublesome. "Shikamaru, I want to do something with you. If we're going to be a couple, we should go out on dates. If Ichiraku's isn't good enough, then by all means, tell me where."
Now it was Shikamaru's turn to frown. "You act like such a girl. Hyuuga."
"We both know very well I am not." A faint blush graced the Nara's face- Neji had taken the honor of being seme that night just over a week ago.
"Anyway," he muttered, averting his gaze to avoid Neji's light smirk, "Why can't we do something here, instead?" There was a slight pause and Shikamaru dared a glance at Neji and realized just what the Hyuuga must have assumed from what he said. He pushed himself up on his elbows, trying to edge away.
"That's not what I meant-"
"Then what do you mean?" the Hyuuga purred. Shikamaru gulped, furiously racking his mind for a sufficient answer. Where was that genius when he needed it?
"Cloud gazing?" he suggested meekly, drawing his shoulders to his ears. Neji's brow creased, but after an endless moment the older boy sighed and nodded, leaning back on his elbows and looking up. Shikamaru allowed himself a smile and lay back in the grass as well, trailing the sluggish movement of a particularly fluffy cloud bank. They lay in a relatively companionable silence for a while longer until Neji suddenly got up. Shikamaru watched lazily with one eye as the Hyuuga straightened himself out, brushing off a few pieces of grass. He gave Shikamaru a look something between disappointment and resentment, causing the younger boy to wince.
As he left; "Where're you going?"
"... To train."
- - -
Neji was frustrated with Shikamaru. Technically they weren't going out- no one had been asked out yet. But he felt that having sex definitely counted as becoming a couple. He wasn't going to lie: he was no romantic; but he did want to spend time with his significant other. He chided himself for believing Shikamaru would forsake his lazy ways just for him. On the brighter side, the Nara had not denied that they were a couple when Neji said it.
"Oh," Neji murmured, frowning. He pulled out of his stance and backed away from the dummy he was practicing on and examined his hands. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts he had not realized the tips of his fingers had been worn down and were staining the white cloth wrapped around a pole with smudges of red. Sighing, he retired from training, but not wanting to go to his room, hit the streets of Konoha.
It's getting late, he realized, looking up at the sky. He began to wonder whether Shikamaru had eaten or not yet. Growing frustrated again, he stopped at a street vender and bought some food. It took a few tries, but eventually he found his way to Shikamaru's house. First he knocked on the front door, but there was no answer. He tried again. Still no-one answered. Confused, he tried the knob and discovered it was unlocked. Realizing this was strange, he entered cautiously, setting the food on the coffee table. Somewhere there was water running. Assuming it was Shikamaru taking a bath, Neji let himself into Shikamaru's room to wait.
Shikamaru's room was neither messy nor overly neat. Yes, there were clothes, books, and weapons on the ground but they were generally grouped in piles in their own corners (the clothes were even separated into 'clean' and 'dirty' piles. Admittedly, even Neji's room acquired those every now-and-then when the servants weren't around for periods of time). The bed wasn't made, but the bookshelves were neatly organized and the Shogi board- the two missing pieces replaced with marked stones- was set up as though Shikamaru had been playing himself. Neji studied it curiously; one side seemed to be set in a form that was similar to what he had seen Shikamaru use when they played, the other side was organized differently, as though Shikamaru were trying to form a new style of playing. Neji nodded to himself, admiring the Nara's work.
He wandered over to the cloud-lover's bed and sat down, picking up the book on the pillow and flipping it to the marked page. It was a very complicated book of weapons and tactics; typical of someone as smart as Shikamaru, Neji thought, though oddly uncharacteristic to the Nara in particular, considering the boy's innate laziness.
When the bath water was still running by the time he had finished the book, Neji knew something wasn't quite right. The bath should have been long-since full by then. Setting the book back on the pillow Neji got up and edged his way to the bathroom, pressing an ear to the door and listening.
There was a splash of water and a loud gasp, followed by a soft, "Damnit!" and another splash. Neji frowned. What seemed like forever passed and he began to worry. He knocked on the door.
"Shikamaru?" he called, "Shikamaru!" He pounded on the door, then kicked it open. There was Shikamaru, face submerged in the full to overflowing sink, hair a sodden, drippy mess. Neji grabbed Shikamaru by the waist and yanked the boy back. Shikamaru gasped for air, slipping on the slick tile and landing both him and Neji on the wet floor.
"What the hell do you think you were doing, Nara!?" Neji seethed. Shikamaru blinked a few times then wiped the water off his face.
"Neji?" he asked blankly. Neji frowned but nodded. Shikamaru sighed and pulled away from the Hyuuga, planting his butt dejectedly in a puddle by the bathtub, shrugging. Neji rolled his eyes.
"Yes, it's me. Why were you drowning yourself in the sink?" Neji repeated himself. Shikamaru shrugged and fiddled with the towel tied around his waist- the only garment he wore at the moment. Neji sighed and stood. "Get up, I brought you food," he instructed. Shikamaru also rose.
"M'not hungry," he mumbled, but let Neji lead him down the stairs. Neji sat him on the couch and unpacked the food, forcing a bowl and chopsticks into Shikamaru's hands. Shikamaru sighed and stared sullenly at the food before taking a bite. Neji let out a breath of relief. He sat next to Shikamaru with his own bowl and watched as the Nara ate slowly but hungrily, as though he hadn't eaten in a long time.
"Shikamaru," Neji said softly.
"Mm?" Shikamaru answered around a bite of rice.
Neji faltered, afraid to say the wrong thing and send Shikamaru further into depression when the Nara seemed to be better at the moment. Finally he sighed and put his bowl down, giving the Nara nothing but his profile as he spoke; "If you were doing... that... because I didn't stay with you today in the field-"
Shikamaru shook his head. "It's not that."
"Then what is it?"
Shikamaru shrugged and Neji frowned. He looked away from Neji's scrutinizing stare, uncomfortable. Neji was considered a genius, too. There was no avoiding it; he would figure it out quickly.
"Does it have to do with..." he hesitated, "the Inuzuka?"
"You can call him Kiba, you know, it wouldn't kill you," Shikamaru automatically ground out, then quickly tagged on a, "But that's not the reason."
Neji knew better. Shikamaru was still pining after Kiba- though why he would still be like that after almost two months was completely beyond Neji. That was a fact and Neji could do nothing about it, because for whatever reason fate decided it. Obviously, Shikamaru had not made a permanent recovery the night they'd shared together. Only a long enough recovery to prove to Neji that Shikamaru could indeed be very good company.
"Of course not," Neji played along with Shikamaru but got up.
"W-wait!" Shikamaru squeaked, snagging the sleeve of Neji's shirt. Neji yanked his sleeve out of the Nara's grip but stayed. He listened to the sound of Shikamaru as he stood and rounded the table to stand in front of him. He tried to keep the venom out of his stare, but he must not have done very well since the younger nin flinched visibly at seeing his eyes. Shikamaru glanced around uncomfortably, muttering something about troublesome before pulling Neji into a passionate kiss.
Passionate on his end, that is. Neji didn't react and Shikamaru pulled away, confused.
"Neji?"
"I don't want to kiss you if you're thinking about Kiba," Neji hissed, brushing past Shikamaru. He paused at the door; "Finish the food. You've lost too much weight, recently."
And then he was gone and Shikamaru sank to his feet, biting back the tears. Damnit, how did he always manage to screw everything up with Neji? At least with Kiba they could talk without it becoming an argument. At least with Kiba there was nothing between them- until Shino came along.
It dawned on Shikamaru that he was doing to Neji what Kiba had done to him.
(1) I hate the name "Shika" but I can see Ino using it instead of Shikamaru. Also, -chan is an honorific usually for girls, but it can also be used for friends. I figure she'd use -chan instead of -kun because (I think) she's younger than Shikamaru. Either way, it's what I chose, so I'm afraid you'll just have to deal. Sorry, 'kaythanks.
So, it's not as good as the first part, I think... I apologize sincerely for that! Shikamaru's depression will be explained in full in the next two chapters or so. As I said before, I apologize profusely for the long delay!