A/N: This is a story written for Tumblr's Narutosecretsanta and I was slotted to be shikashikamarunara's Secret Santa. Of the things I was told she liked, there was Shikamaru, but also Itachi and Iruka. Their favorite relationship was sasunaru, but they were also fine with nejiten, kakashi/yamato. And me, being the crazy person I am, decided to make a story with all of these characters!

Summary: All Shikamaru truly wanted to do was sleep. He somehow ended up playing matchmaker, though.

All Shikamaru had wanted was a quiet day. After returning from a rather long and tiresome mission in Suna of all places, he thought he had won himself at least a little bit of relaxation time.

He had been proven wrong as soon as he was forced to wake up earlier than usual by his father. The elder Nara hadn't wanted to wake him up, but had said that it was urgent and there was a friend of his standing at the door. Shikamaru had glared at his father, who had only shrugged and kicked him out of the bed. Then the elder Nara had walked out and called for whoever it was that stood at the door to enter their house and head over to Shikamaru's room.

He really didn't want to wake up... It was much too troublesome to do anything after that mission... Why couldn't his father have just let him rest?

The teenage Nara lay on the floor after his father had pushed him off his bed. It was cool against his cheek. Really, as long as he closed his eyes, it was just as comfortable as his bed. Quite frankly, with the right mind set anyplace could be comfortable. One just needed to get their mind right. Right and lazy.

Just as he was about to reach complete comfortableness even while on the floor, Shikamaru felt someone poke at his ribs.

"Shikamaru. Get up. I require your assistance with my brother."

The Nara knew that it was Itachi Uchiha as soon as he heard the deep and almost monotone voice.

After a lot of pleading, explaining, and bargaining, Naruto had managed to convince the Hokage to allow Itachi and Sasuke to return to the village. They were under constant surveillance from ANBU and regular shinobi all the time, though. But they seemed to strive to live as regular lives as possible, even with the restrictions given by the Hokage. Which kept them in the village at all times and under strict rules to not be in danger of getting apprehended.

"G'way."

He just wanted to sleep. He didn't care what one Uchiha might want or need. The only thing he truly cared about at the moment was to finally be able to sleep after that draining mission.

And he'd be damned if he didn't get what he wanted on his free day.

Unfortunately, Itachi had a very different idea in mind when it came to Shikamaru being able to sleep. An idea that ended up with the grouchy Nara having to walk behind him to the Uchiha complex after quite a few threats of terrible ways in which he could ruin a good day that could be filled with cloud watching and relaxing.

Shikamaru wanted to sleep and relax. But Itachi had threatened any and all expeditions he might take to cloud watch. And seeing how the Uchiha wasn't an active shinobi anymore and stayed in the village all of the time now, the threat held much weight.

"What do you even want me to do?"

Even with all of the promises of ruined cloud watching days, Itachi hadn't really said much as to just why he would ruin those good days. He'd just threatened. But he hadn't given the Nara even a tiny bit of an explanation as to why he was the one that needed to assist with Sasuke. It wasn't as if he were even that close to the broody Uchiha. Naruto was the closest to being a friend of Sasuke's. Shikamaru wasn't.

Just what could he possibly do that Naruto couldn't?

"I require your assistance." Itachi repeated, which, quite frankly, irritated the Nara.

He was dragged out of bed on his free day to help a guy he didn't even necessarily like that much... And he didn't know why or how. Itachi really needed to straighten his priorities if he truly wanted the Nara's help.

With this thought, Shikamaru shoved his hands into his hastily pulled on pants' pockets, looking up at the sky with a loud sigh.

... At least the clouds were clear and white this morning...

When they reached the gates of the Uchiha compound, Shikamaru couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at Itachi's back. But the older male, once more, just kept quiet and continued to walk, which meant that Shikamaru ended up following after him. He didn't really like entering such a large and desolate place, but there was quite a high price at stake. And he didn't want Itachi to ruin anymore days after this.

They were well into the heart of the Uchiha district before Itachi finally stopped. But when he did, Shikamaru could say that he had begun to form an idea as to what kind of help Itachi might need with his brother.

"Sasuke. Naruto. I brought assistance."

Shikamaru couldn't really believe what he was seeing. So he took his time truly analyzing what was before him, making sure that he wasn't under any kind of genjutsu or sleep deprived enough to start hallucinating things.

"You brought Shikamaru? Brother, I told you to get someone useful."

"Shikamaru! Itachi, you're a genius! He should know how to get us out of this mess!"

Sasuke was glaring at his brother with clear disdain. But Naruto was smiling broadly, hope shining clear in his blue eyes.

There were many questions running through Shikamaru's mind. But the one that really, truly, intrigued him the most was the first one he voiced.

"What are you two wearing?"

Naruto was dressed in barely a thing. There was a thin cloth draped around his body, barely covering what needed to be covered. And Sasuke was wearing only a pair of underwear, leaving his whole body exposed to any that might look.

Even though the raven haired male sent a scathing glare over at him, Shikamaru noted the light blush that began to blossom. Naruto, on the other hand, could only chuckle nervously.

"You don't need to know that, Shika! Just know that we need your help getting out of here!"

They were wrapped around in thick, red and blue chords. Which meant that they were forced together, body to body, without any inch of space between them. And right where their biceps met, there was a piece of paper attached to the chords around their bodies, which simply read 'Accept Your Love'.

"Itachi... Why couldn't you have helped these two out?"

The man didn't look back at him, instead glaring at the bound Naruto and Sasuke writhing around on the floor. "I don't know how to get those restraints off. The more one tries to get out of them, the tighter they become."

How this could have happened, Shikamaru wasn't sure. And he didn't know if he really wanted to find out either. Especially considering the males' current state of undress.

So, with a sigh and a shake of his head, the Nara told them, "The paper says to accept your love. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's written or what it means."

"There's writing on the paper?"

"Really?"

"I told you there was something there, dobe!"

"Well, Itachi didn't tell us there was writing there, teme!"

"Because he can't read it, you retard!"

This... Why was he stuck having to hear this? Why couldn't he just have been allowed to stay in his beautiful, comfy bed to sleep in?

"So troublesome..." The Nara sighed with a shake of his head before looking up, "Like I said," Shikamaru cut in as Naruto and Sasuke traded insults, "The paper says to accept your love. I guess when you two accept your feelings for each other, the paper will dissolve and the chords holding you in place will too."

Then he looked at Itachi, "That's all there is to it. Bye."

The Uchiha nodded and turned back to Sasuke and Naruto, dark eyes narrowing at them.

And so Shikamaru walked away from Naruto and Sasuke shouting about not having any feelings for each other. But those shouts were ignored by the Nara because, really, he was much too tired to try and listen to those guys try to convince him when they couldn't even convince themselves about their feelings.

Because he was awake, he knew that if he returned to his home his mother would force him to do something or another for her because he didn't have the excuse of being asleep already. And the last thing he wanted to do was end up stuck running errands for the force of nature that was his Yoshino Nara.

So the teen wisely decided to go to one of the quietest spots in Konoha in the hopes of being able to doze off in the forest.

And when he got to the secluded bench behind one of Konoha's more subdued areas, the Nara thought he would finally be able to get the rest he so readily deserved and needed.

But he was wrong.

He hated being wrong.

"Tenten... Are you alright? What you are saying is somewhat odd. Are you feeling alright? Your face is red."

That was Neji Hyuga's voice. But for the first time since Shikamaru had known the stern male, he sounded unsure and worried.

He was too tired to be curious about this, though. So the Nara just nestled his head deeper into his arms, stretched his legs onto the bench, and hoped that whatever Neji wanted to do, it would take place far enough away to not have to hear.

"Of course I'm fine!" There was a beat, then Tenten continued in a more subdued voice, "Well, Neji, sure, we've known each other for a while... And you're really... You know... And I like... I mean... You're... You know..."

"No, Tenten, I do not. Please, tell me."

"You know what I'm talking about, Neji!"

"No, I do not!"

Shikamaru didn't know what those two were talking about. But it didn't really take much brain power to figure out that Tenten was confessing her feelings to Neji, only to leave the emotionally stunted Hyuga at a loss for logical action. Which is why they most probably dissolved into sounding a lot like Sasuke and Naruto.

"You do!"

"I do not!"

With each shout, Shikamaru felt his mood worsening.

Really... Why did they have to be so loud?

"You know what I'm telling you!"

"I have told you before and I will tell you again, Tenten, I do not!"

With a frown and glare on his face, Shikamaru dragged himself off of his precious bench and moved towards the direction of the two shinobi. Their shouts were growing louder as they continued the childish back and forth. And when Shikamaru finally found them, he found both teammates glaring at one another, blush clear on their faces.

"Just kiss and shut up already!"

Most of the time, Shikamaru had more tact. But he just wanted some sleep. And the more time that passed that he wasn't able to sleep, the grumpier he became.

Both shinobi looked at him with shocked and almost terrified faces, but the Nara only grumbled, "Tenten likes you, Neji. But, Tenten, Neji is a Hyuga. He's not one for physical affections and brash actions. So you have to be more patient and descriptive with him." Then he growled, "Seriously, you're about as troublesome as Naruto and Sasuke!"

After that, he didn't wait for either of them to answer him. His peace had been disturbed and he was somewhat ticked off. So he would need to find some inner peace within himself before he even tried to sleep. Which meant he stormed away from there, heading for another, hopefully, peaceful place to try and relax.

He had been wrong. The next place he went to wasn't peaceful.

... Well, that was a lie. It actually was. The top of the Hokage Mountains wasn't really a very visited spot because of the many stairs needed to take to get there. But Shikamaru, in his annoyance with Neji and Tenten's incompetence with their own feelings, had done something completely uncharacteristic and completed the long trek.

Once there, he had thrown himself under the nearest shade he could find and closed his eyes to finally relax.

But that moment of calm had been dashed the second he heard his name being called.

It seemed that the world was just against him on this day.

"Shikamaru. I never thought I'd see the day a Nara would climb all the way to the top of this mountain."

He had half a mind to ignore whoever it was that had decided to walk up and speak to him. But he recognized the voice vaguely and it reminded him of someone that he should, most probably, not insult. Someone he knew.

When he cracked one eye open, Shikamaru saw that he had been right to not say the first thing that had come to his mind. For it was Iruka Umino that had interrupted his almost dozing. And while a rather calm and understanding person, Shikamaru doubted his old teacher would take too kindly to being insulted by a grumpy Nara.

"Well..." Shikamaru thought about answering with some kind of smart answer, but decided against it and opted for, "What do you want, Iruka Sensei?"

The scarred man looked down at him for a second before shrugging, "I'm just getting away from everything. I was kind of surprised to not have been the only one, though."

With a quirk of his eyebrow, the Nara silently asked for his teacher to elaborate. And after a second or so of thought, the man did so.

"I have a friend that likes this other friend of his. And this other friend really likes him. But my friend is rather distant and doesn't seem to understand how to deal with his emotions. So he just ignores any advances and continues acting as if there's nothing wrong." Then, in a low voice, the chunin hissed, "And he continues reading those damned books in front of him as if it weren't in any way insulting!"

Distant. Friend of Iruka's. Bad with understanding others. Acting like nothing's wrong... Damned books?

"Kakashi likes someone?"

The way Iruka Sense looked at him said it all. And Shikamaru couldn't help the small, satisfied smirk that founds its way onto his lips because of that.

So sue him. He was a Nara. He liked being right.

"Yes. He does. And he's doing a horrible job of separating his team relationship from interfering with his personal relationship with this man."

So it was a man and they were on the same team... Team Kakashi was only composed of Sai, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. Unless one counted...

"He likes Yamato?"

With an almost annoyed frown, Iruka crossed his arms and sat down beside Shikamaru, crossing his legs beneath him. "You really are a Nara."

"I am." Shikamaru nodded slowly, resisted the urge of saying that anyone with an attention span greater than Naruto's could have figure that out, then breathed out deeply.

Why was it that he seemed to be followed around by budding relationships that were refused to grow by the people in them? First Sasuke and Naruto, then Neji and Tenten, and now these two jonin. Although this last one wasn't really as direct and intense as the other two.

"It annoys me. I want to see them both happy. And I know they can make each other happy. But Kakashi's too stubborn. And Yamato doesn't want to push him into anything he's not ready for. But you can tell he's really getting hurt by Kakashi's distance."

He had just wanted to sleep. That was all he had truly wanted. Just one day to relax and sleep and not worry about anything. But the stars had aligned all wrong and seemed to decide he didn't deserve any peace of mind.

But... He could help Iruka Sensei with this.

"Say... You're just about at the end of your rope with all of this, right?"

Iruka glanced at him quizzically before he nodded. "Yeah. I am. Do you have any advice for me, Shikamaru?"

Not advice. But a plan. All that Iruka Sensei would really need to figure out was how Naruto and Sasuke had ended up stuck in that trap. But if he found out, then he'd be able to use it to force Kakashi to face his true emotions.

"Well, why don't I tell you a story about a young Nara that just wanted to sleep?" The teen sat up with a soft smile, closing his eyes as he crossed his arms. "A Nara that, even though all he truly wanted was to relax, continued finding himself interrupted by troublesome people that insisted on keeping him from his sleep?"

From the small quirk of his lips, Shikamaru could tell that Iruka Sensei was at least amused by the beginning of his narration. So he told the man the woes of his day, emphasizing on the bit with Naruto, Sasuke, and the odd contraption they had been caught inside.

Weeks later Shikamaru had not yet been allowed a single day for complete rest and relaxation. And all he truly wanted was to just throw himself on his bed and never wake up again.

But when he returned to his home after a particularly long day of all kinds of odd missions around the village, the weariness in his bones seemed to leave him at the sight of a folded up paper with his name written neatly on it. Even though he had graduated from the academy quite some years ago, he still remembered Iruka Sensei's neat scrawl.

And when he opened the paper, all thoughts of sleeping evaporated and were replaced by thoughts of slight pride with himself, along with understanding and an mix of wanting to laugh and curse his luck at the same time.

'Your plan worked. They're together now. Thank you for the amazing idea.

By the way, it was Itachi that had set the trap in the first place for the first victims. He was tired of those two denying their feelings. But if he helped them, it would be too obvious. Which is why he fetched you.'

Itachi had planned what had happened with Sasuke and Naruto in the first place. It was rather saddening to think that Itachi could have annoyed anyone else that day and spared Shikamaru from a fate of unrelaxed days. Especially because of the chain reaction of events that followed.

But... Shikamaru didn't find himself minding it so much anymore.

Three new couples- all of whom deserved to be happy and find love- had been formed because of Itachi's one plan. Although the Uchiha hadn't counted on what would happen with Shikamaru after he helped with Sasuke and Naruto.

It was good to have done some good for the people he knew.

Although he still wouldn't mind getting a free day to himself to just sleep in and ignore everyone.

I hope you all liked this story! And I wish you all a very merry Christmas!