"Oii! Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru didn't move a muscle as Naruto called for him. He could impossibly be needed again. And if he lay still enough in the grass, perhaps Naruto wouldn't notice him.

"Shikamaru! Where are you!?"

Shikamaru was laying on a hill, watching the clouds. Or rather, he had watched the clouds until hundreds of shadow clones had started running to and fro, looking for him and he had been forced to mask his chakra to stay hidden.

Naruto might be have been the child of prophesy, hero of Konoha and the worlds savior but to Shikamaru he would always be Naruto first and foremost. It wasn't that he didn't like him or anything, but why couldn't that blond idiot just give up and go bother somebody else?

Suddenly the clones dispelled and Shikamaru got a bad feeling that turned out to be quite justified when Naruto appeared in front of him, orange rings around his eyes and iris inhumanly yellow.

"Found you!"

"Now that's just cheating…" Shikamaru murmured to himself.

Naruto popped down into the grass beside him. "Hey, I really need your help, Shikamaru."

"Shoot," Shikamaru said, closing his eyes again. He knew that he wouldn't get rid of Naruto anytime soon unless he got what he wanted, so the best thing to do was to simply get it over with.

Troublesome.

"I've been thinking…"

Shikamaru peered at him. "Please don't tell me it's about Kakashi becoming hokage instead of you." He had lost count over how many times Naruto had complained about said decision and if that was all Naruto was here to do he wasn't going to stand for it.

Not again.

"It's not," Naruto promised. "I've come to terms with it. It can wait. Actually, I think that-"

Shikamaru cleared his throat to cut him off before he got too sidetracked.

"Right. As I said, I've been thinking. Do you remember that time Pain attacked?"

"Yes." How could he not?

"Well, I was in a tight spot for a while and Hinata tried to help me… It didn't work that well, considering I lost control and she almost got killed, but she told me something…"

"Continue," Shikamaru said when it was clear that Naruto wouldn't elaborate without some encouragement.

"She said that she loved me."

"She did. All survivors after Pain's attack heard her confession."

Naruto scratched his neck awkwardly. "Yeah. But things were hectic at that time with Sasuke missing and the Akatsuki after me so I never gave her an answer."

"And now that the war is over, you're finally ready to do something about it."

"Yes. Hinata is a really sweet girl and she's been supporting me longer than I can remember anyone else has. Well, possibly not longer than Iruka... I'm not sure actually. But the point is that she's always believed in me even when everyone else hated me. She's beautiful and strong…Brave…" Naruto's voice faded away.

"…but?" Shikamaru said, feeling there was more Naruto wanted to tell him than how wonderful he thought Hinata was.

"I don't know how I feel," he finally admitted. "I've been in love with Sakura for so long… Sure, she is scary and hits me every other minute, but I know she really cares. She knows me better than anyone else. But… I know that she doesn't love me and now that Sasuke is back they'll probably get together and revive the Uchiha clan. I don't want to come in way of their happiness, but it's not like me to give up on something either. " Naruto's shoulders shrunk. "I just don't know what to do."

When Shikamaru remained silent, Naruto continued.

"Please, can't you help me? You're a genius and all. You should be able to figure out how I really feel…"

"Do you love Sakura?"

"I don't know anymore. I thought I did, but now I'm not sure."

"Do you love Hinata?"

"I don't know her well enough, so I wouldn't really know if I did."

"So you don't know if you love either. So troublesome. As if not women is troublesome enough… All right, I'll help you figure it out only because you won't stop pestering me until I do. Just answer my questions and I'll try to do the thinking for you."

"Alright! Thanks a lot, Shikamaru! You're the best!" Naruto grinned widely at him as his sage mode slowly dissolved.

"This is such a drag… Okay. If you could only save one person, who would you choose?"

"I would save everyone no matter what anyone say is possible or not! Believe it! I wouldn't let anyone else close to me die!"

So that was apparently the wrong type of question. "I should have expected it… but say you really had to choose. Who would you save?"

Naruto pouted for a long time muttering how things weren't fair. "I'd find a way to do it…"

"Naruto," Shikamaru said warningly. "I can't help you if you don't co-operate. This isn't for real. Just tell me the first person that comes to mind."

"Sasuke," Naruto answered in a heartbeat. "Then he could help me save everyone else too!"

"Fine. Who have you been thinking about the most these last…. say, two years?"

"Sasuke. I tried to figure out how to get him back to Konoha…"

"Of course. Well, who have you been thinking about the most since the war ended and Sasuke returned?"

"Hm… Well, I have been so happy to have him back that I guess… I've been thinking mostly about Sasuke even after the war."

He really was getting nowhere with these questions, was he? Shikamaru guessed he'd have to use more obvious ones.

"So… if you had to live with someone for ten years…"

"Sasuke. I'd make sure he wouldn't run off a second time. I heard the bastard's thinking about leaving again…" Naruto growled.

Shikamaru sighed. "Have you kissed anyone?"

"Eh." Naruto nervously scraped on one of his whisker-like markings. "No… only…"

"Wait." Shikamaru said, holding up a hand to stop him from saying anything more. "Let me guess. Sasuke. Sorry, I forgot you kissed that day in the academy…"

"It wasn't like I did it on purpose! It was horrifying! Even today I am still tormented by that memory! I will never forget- "

"Do you think about it a lot?" Shikamaru interrupted him.

"Every time I see people kissing." Naruto told him solemnly.

"Naruto, really? It's been what… six years?"

"I was scarred for life."

Shikamaru closed his eyes as he breathed out slowly.

"Will any of these questions be an answer without Sasuke in it?"

"I don't know before you ask them. Sasuke's a big part of my life."

"I would say so," Shikamaru noted as he opened his eyes to meet Naruto's gaze. "And considering Sasuke hasn't even been in Konoha for almost half a decade that's… quite an accomplishment."

Naruto thought for a minute before he nodded. "I guess so."

"Naruto…" Shikamaru began. "If you truly loved Hinata… I am pretty sure you would have found time to speak to her sooner than this no matter how busy you've been. We always manage to make time for things that are really important to us, and I know you've had the opportunities to talk to her. In fact, it's quite of a jerk move to not acknowledge her confession or say anything about it. At the very least you could have told her that you needed time to figure out your feelings."

"I didn't mean to be rude," Naruto said, blue orbs looking away with an obvious hint of guilt in them.

"I know you didn't." Naruto never meant to hurt anybody, especially not the people he cared about.

"So I don't love Hinata then?"

"That is something only you can know for sure, Naruto, but as for what I can tell it doesn't seem to be the case. As for Sakura… from how you describe her it I think you had a crush on her when you were a kid but now you're both happier as friends. The way she keeps lashing out on you is more of something a sister would do than a lover and I know that she sees you as a brother."

"Oh. But in that case… maybe I should start dating Hinata for her sake. I am sure I would grow to love her if I got to know her…"

"You could do that. As long as you are honest with her. Few people are in love before they start dating. Or you could try to… broaden your horizons to see if there might not be someone else you are already in love with."

"Someone else?"

"Naruto, who have you been chasing for four years?" Shikamaru deadpanned.

"Sa-" Wait. You're not saying he's the one I love, are you?"

"…"

"There's just no way! I'd never love that bastard, you've got it all wrong! Seriously, Shikamaru, I thought you'd be smart. Can't you see we barely stand each other?"

"Tsundere," Shikamaru coughed.

"What's that?"

Before Shikamaru had to explain something that could have turned terribly troublesome a figure appeared before them.

"Hey dobe. Wanna get ramen?"

Naruto's eyes lit up. "Sure thing, teme!"

The blond jumped up and ran towards the Uchiha, glancing over his shoulder at the lazy brunette and raising a hand in goodbye to him.

"I'll see you some other time, Shikamaru! Thanks for trying to help!"

Sasuke gave Shikamaru a nod of acknowledgement before he turned away from him.

"Hey, Naruto. I've been thinking about leaving the village…" Shikamaru heard as the two reunited teammates started walking away.

Naruto grabbed the raven's shoulder as if he expected Sasuke to disappear any minute.

"No way, bastard! If you think you can just waltz out now that I finally dragged your ass back here, you've got another thing coming!"

"Just for a few months." Sasuke glanced at the Uzumaki. "With permission, of course. I was wondering if you'd like to come with me..."

Their voices died away as they disappeared from his sight and Shikamaru turned his attention back to the sky. It seemed that Hinata would have to wait another few months before Naruto 'had time' to give her a proper answer.

"Sasuke really is troublesome," he told the clouds, "But at least he's not a woman."

An image of a certain Suna kunoichi flashed though his mind and the corners of Shikamaru's mouth tugged upwards. "But then again, don't we all love the most troublesome people?"

o o o

The End

A/N Thank you for reading and please review!