Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto has all right to Naruto, obviously.
This is the first time I actually write something not AU. OMG
This is a one-shot.
Nobody ever believed him to be perceptive. He never once gave out the impression that his mind was capable of seeing anything else outside of his goal.
His dream.
His purpose in life.
He was steadfast in his belief of overcoming any, if not all obstacles with perseverance and hard work. Rarely was he seen outside of his team's training post—when he was not in either a mission or at the hospital convalescing. He was always pushing his limits and setting up a new one when he surpassed the previous one.
Nothing in his routine gave indication that he even paid an infinitesimal amount of attention to his surroundings. Thus, inadvertently, the majority of Kanoha failed to notice him—that is when he wasn't blatantly making his presence known.
Shikamaru Nara was one of the few not included in that bulky majority. In fact, he was pretty damn sure he, along with one other fellow comrade, may he rest in peace, were the only ones who could see the knowing glow of knowledge hidden beneath the absurd gestures and flagrantly loud speeches of the spring time of youth.
Sure, people could deduce that he was observant; he would not be a shinobi if he wasn't, but they believed it to be solely in battle. Shikamaru was fairly sure that not even Gai knew the extent of Lee's astuteness. But really, he couldn't really blame him or any other person who assumed the happy-go-lucky Lee was naïve.
Three years ago, the shadow master would have admitted to categorizing Lee as being as naïve as they come. But it was funny how quickly his opinion of the man changed. And it took Neji having to die in order to see it.
"Lee….I have s-something to confess…to you." Shikamaru was slightly within hearing distance giving the two teammates respectable time and space to say their goodbyes. His jaw clenched and his good fist clawed painfully at the inside of his palm as he heard the hoarse whisper of his comrade.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
"I n-need you to…k-k-keep an eye out for someone." Blood was beginning to pool around his mouth, gurgling his speech in a way that would have undignified the Hyuuga under different trivial conditions.
The Nara watched as inconspicuously as possible trying to discern the quieted speech. His brows furrowed in confusion when Lee spoke.
"I understand. I will. Don't worry. You can count on me, eternal rival." Shikamaru could hear the strain in Lee's voice as he tried to keep himself centered. Neji was about to speak again, but Lee cut him off with a shaky finger.
"Save those. I will miss you, my friend." He made up to leave, his back already turned when Neji's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"You are the closest…thing to a b-brother I've ever had. Thank you, Lee."
Lee's eyes grew wide before a broken smile filled his face. "You will always be my brother."
Shikamaru saw as Lee limped away from Neji. His pace was hurried as he made his way towards the Nara. As he watched him, he was always left astounded by his ability to make his injuries seem less than what they really were. He shouldn't even be walking with the muscles tears he knew the taijutsu specialist had sustained, yet there he was, wiping away the tears from his face with such fervor and walking on shaky legs.
Once Lee reached him, standing shoulder to shoulder, Shikamaru followed the bandaged, bloody hand that made its way to his bicep, which elicited a small, painful gasp from the shadow user. One of the fuckers had managed to break his arm in quite a few places before his skull was crushed by one of Lee's kicks.
"Take all the time you need." They were simple words, but the meaning behind them ran deep. Shikamaru's eyes widened for a brief second, his eyes locked with Lee's and that's when he knew. Understanding, pain and most of all knowledge swam in those vast, coal colored eyes.
Lee smiled sadly and urged him toward the broken body waiting for him. The brunet didn't need to be told twice. He ran and knelt down, cradling Neji's head with his good arm.
Neji. His comrade. His friend and confidant. But most of all, his lover.
That day was still vividly imprinted on his mind. He remembered the nonsensical words he muttered on Neji's lips as he kissed him. He could recall the heaving I love yous, three words that had taken quite a long time for Neji to utter, as they were coughed up from the Hyuuga's lips.
Their blood began to intermix as he pushed himself closer to the stiff body beneath his to the point where one could not tell whose blood was whose. His hand trailed the gaping hole in Neji's midsection. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if he were to push his hand through, the pads of his fingers would make contact with the sordid ground.
He remembered holding him until Neji's body was cold to the touch and his eyes stared listlessly upwards. It wasn't until Lee began to pry him off the still figure that he disentangled himself from his lover.
The process of taking care of the body was a brutal one, but necessary. Neither he nor Lee were in the condition to make a four and a half days trip back home carrying dead weight, no matter how much they wanted to. They couldn't afford being ambushed again and bringing Neji would have done more harm than good. Luckily, the rest of the trip had gone unperturbed and only when they reached the gates of Kanoha did they give themselves the pleasure of collapsing.
It was a few weeks before Shikamaru sought Lee out. Unlike the green clad shinobi, the Nara had sustained far less injuries and was free to leave less than a week after his admittance. Lee, on the other hand, had suffered serious muscle and tissue damage from opening six gates, a punctured lung, three broken ribs and the misalignment of one of his vertebrae. It was a miracle he managed to survive let alone walk.
Sakura had been furious. Severe damage had been made to his past injuries and she understood the mental and physical stress of having to patch Lee up, a quirk bequeathed to her after surpassing Tsunade's abilities. But upon the news of Neji's death, she really could not hold on to that anger.
Neji's memorial service was done as soon as Lee was able to leave the hospital in a wheelchair, much to his dismay. He would be able to walk, but he needed to lay as much pressure off his spine as he could.
Naruto, who had earned and accomplished his goal of being Tsunade's successor, personally led the ceremony, telling not only of Neji's accomplishments and the respect he held for his dear friend, but also small anecdotes that not many people were privy of. A couple of others spoke up as well, recounting stories and saying their farewells.
While Shikamaru appreciated the gestures, he couldn't help but feel an empty hole in his chest every time someone wished him a happy afterlife, finally free from the cage he'd been cooped up in since birth. What these people didn't understand was that Neji had liberated himself a long time ago. He didn't need death in order to find that freedom.
Among all the speeches and heartfelt condolences, he noticed Lee's lone, unmoving figure a few yards away from himself.
Shikamaru approached him slowly, eyeing his surroundings in case anybody was close enough to eavesdrop. When he finally reached Lee, he slumped against the tree trunk behind him hiding with Lee in the shade.
They remained mute for a few moments, watching as Naruto carved Neji's name on the memorial stone.
"I'm surprised you didn't go up there." The brunet didn't know why, but he could sense a knowing smirk from the male beside him. How unusual.
"It would seem pretty pointless, don't you think? Most of these people have shared their memories of him, memories by which I could attest to, confirm and vouch for, but everything being said is superficial. Neji didn't share much of himself and if you were able to tell, in exception to Naruto-sama, neither Tenten, Gai-sensei or Hinata-sama have gotten up and that's because we know Neji wouldn't have wanted us up there.
"We would be spouting sentences that would never give justice to the type of person he was and I can imagine him rolling his eyes at us if we even tried it. He was a private man and we respect his wish to remain so even when he's no longer physically with us. You should know, right?"
And for the first time that day, Lee turned his gaze towards Shikamaru and it lingered, searching for the silent confirmation. The Nara looked away first, resisting the urge to snort. His left hand lifted to his ear, snagging a fig placed in its juncture. He lit it after much difficulty since he couldn't quite keep the breeze from hitting the flame and flickering off since his other arm was being held in a cast. He took a long drag of smoke, holding it in for as long as he could.
"Since when have you known?" It put him off slightly to discover that he and Neji had not been as discreet as they thought they had. In Kanoha, if you were in a serious, romantic relationship with another shinobi, you were commanded to report it to the Hokage to prevent any joint missions, lest you ran the risk of compromising the assignment due to emotional instability.
Long ago, Neji and Shikamaru had found that their skills were compatible with each other, making them a formidable team. They refused to be separated if it could be avoided, thus the secrecy.
"Ah, the million ryo question. You two began to train pretty frequently. You made me lose a good amount of training time with him, just to let you know." At this Shikamaru did snort.
"And honestly to see you actually making the effort to come down that hill of yours to challenge Neji was pretty rare and a tell-tale sign. I just put two and two together." Lee shrugged like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Plus, he talks—" he cut himself off with difficulty realizing his mistake, "he talked in his sleep, despite how ardently he denied it. Kind of hard to miss someone moaning your name."
Now, Shikamaru wasn't one to blush easily, but knowing that Neji dreamed about him when they weren't together and not only that, moaned his name no less, called for a slight acquaintance with embarrassment.
Lee had managed to turn his wheelchair to face the blushing man and chuckled at his friend's awkwardness, but his eyes caught the quick apprehension that passed through his brown eyes.
Lee sighed before he tilted his head back to watch the specks of blue sky that filtered through the foliage. "I'm not one to tell what others are hiding even if it does violate code."
Shikamaru hummed in response, surprised that Lee was able to tell what was worrying him. He was relieved though, and was slowly starting to accept that Lee was not as unaware as he thought him to be.
After a few minutes of silent contemplation, Shikamaru pushed himself away from the tree and made his way behind Lee. As best as he could with one hand, he pushed the chair forward.
Said man had been too occupied with his musings that he didn't even notice his friend move. Startled, he swiveled his head around only to give the brunet a questioning look.
"Shikamaru, may I ask where you are taking me?" With his half smoked cigarette still dangling from his lips, he let it fall to the floor where he proceeded to stomp it out all the while pushing his currently invalid friend.
"How good are you at shogi, Lee?"
Confused, the dark haired shinobi shook his head. "Not very good. I never did well on board games. Why?"
Shikamaru didn't answer. Instead, he led them to his apartment where his shogi board had found its permanent niche.
Nobody gave Lee enough credit. They overlooked how keen his observations were when he was being his exuberant self. That was not a sign of obliviousness. On the contrary, it was a symbol of respect that he chose not to point out his findings. If anything, Lee was loyal to a fault. Many took this for granted.
Three years from that day, Shikamaru found himself losing to a third person in a round of his favorite pastime.
No, Lee was not only deceptively intuitive, he was also deviously distracting. How troublesome.
A/N: If you squint your eyes and tilt your head at a nighty degree angle, parallel to your ceiling, (unless you have a slanted one like I do then it's perpendicular) you will notice a slight ShikaLee. This idea didn't let me sleep, and it's been so long since I've been in the Zen mentality to write more than a few paragraphs at a time. And I still didn't sleep after I finished writing it. I haven't slept in a couple of days actually. That's probably why I was able to write it. Hope you guys like it!