Title: Holding Out For A Hero

Author: Lovesrainscent

Pairing: Shikaku/Yoshino

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and do not stand to make any profit by posting this story.

Summary: Written because a) I love Shikaku/Yoshino b) I love this song c) every girl needs her hero.

Expect men being men and boys being boys with the original Ino/Shika/Cho trio as nineteen year-olds waffling back and forth between the two, corrupt Uchihas, adventure, shameless romance, breathless kisses, cameos by all three of the sannin, and total Jiraiya adoration.

Okay, hold on, here we go…

Chapter 1: Holding Out For A Hero

The three boys lounged in the afternoon sun, missions completed for the day. Shikaku was lying on his back looking up at the clouds, Chouza leaned up against a tree finishing off a bag of chips while Inoichi sat on a small flat boulder, sharpening a kunai with a whetstone.

"So, you guys want ramen tonight? Or sushi?" Chouza asked.

Neither one answered.

"Guys, what's it going to be?" Chouza wheedled.

Inoichi just smirked to himself.

Shikaku seemed to be dozing.

"Shhh, don't wake him," Inoichi whispered to Chouza with a wicked grin on his face.

"Wha-? Inoichi! Are you eavesdropping again?" Chouza grumbled.

Inoichi waved his kunai to silence his friend but Shikaku stirred.

"Finally, you lazy dolt you're awake! Do you wanna go get ramen tonight or sushi?" Chouza asked once again, feeling slightly annoyed with his two teammates.

"What? Oh, um, yeah, you guys go on without me." Shikaku yawned and stretched, rising to his feet.

Inoichi snorted with laughter.

Chouza looked disappointed.

"Have you got plans tonight, Nara," Inoichi teased.

Shikaku slid a hand over his face, still trying to finish waking up. "Yea, um, I'm busy."

Inoichi laughed again and leered at his friend, "Have you got a date? "

"Son-of-a-bitch! Inoichi, were you…"

"Hey," the blond young man shrugged, "you were leaking like a sieve, I couldn't help but pick up on it." The way he drew out the word leaking held a nasty implication that made Shikaku scowl.

"I ought to…" Shikaku sent his shadow forward toward his teammate.

Inoichi just smirked and whirled away. Shikaku faltered as an image of Tsunade's ample cleavage was sent directly into his mind which promptly stopped working. For the life of him, he couldn't think of how to release the genjutsu and quite frankly didn't want to.

"Guys! " Chouza stepped between his two friends, grasping each one firmly by a shoulder. "Let's go eat! Shikaku can tell us all about his date over dinner."

"It's not a date!" the black haired teen reiterated.

"Whatever. I'm hungry, barbeque it is, let's go," Chouza stated, settling the matter and turning his friends to head them back into town.

Some time later, at the grill, two boys snatching what bites they could between their friend Chouza's greedy grabbing, all three discussed whatever crap it is that nineteen year old boys talk about.

"So, who is she?" Inoichi prodded.

"She's just a girl, okay," Shikaku answered, slumping down in the booth and looking disinterested.

"Well, is she a pretty girl? A tall girl, a …," Inoichi hesitated and flicked his eyes at Chouza wanting desperately to know if she was a 'fat' girl but not wanting to ask it in front of his other best friend. "A….," he floundered for a word, finally settling on "a voluptuous girl?" Then his eyes took on a wicked gleam and he added, "like Tsunnnaaaaadee?"

"Shit. Just shut up, okay?" Shikaku grumbled nearly spearing Chouza's hand as he tried to snag a piece of beef for himself.

"So, who is she?" Inoichi continued to pester his friend.

""Look you don't know her, okay? She's just a little chuunin. You guys ditched me and I was stuck grading those damned genin exams with her. I told her we'd get something to eat after the exams were over. That's all. Okay?"

Shikaku, and in fact neither of the other two, had noticed that the door to the restaurant had opened and Yoshino had entered.

Yoshino thought she recognized Shikaku's voice coming from the booth but she couldn't see over the top of it. She started to walk around to greet him but stopped in her tracks as she heard the conversation and wondered if she was the subject of it.

"So, a chuunin, huh? How old is she?" Chouza asked, his mouth full of beef.

Shikaku scowled at his friend's table manners. "Sixteen."

Yoshino stood frozen by the hostess stand, realizing that they were indeed talking about her.

Inoichi leaned forward. "Sixteen? You sure? Not jail-bait, is she?"

Shikaku shoved his friend's face away. "Look, you ass, it doesn't matter if she's sixteen or fourteen or twelve!"

Inoichi's eyebrows shot to the ceiling and he whistled.

"Shit, fuck, pervert. It's not like that. " Shikaku didn't know why he felt like acting like it was NOT a date in front of his friends because he had actually been looking forward to going out with Yoshino once the blasted exams were over. She'd had a lot of gopher duty for the proctors, the visiting kage's and their assorted staff during the exams. Tonight was the first opportunity they'd had.

"It's not like that because it's NOT a date, okay? She's just some little chit of a chuunin and I told her we'd get a bite after the exams, nothing more."

"Can she cook?" Chouza asked, snagging the last bit of beef from the grill.

"How the hell should I know?" Shikaku snapped back. He couldn't explain why he hadn't wanted his friends to know about this but he just…didn't. Damn! How awkward was this? Why did it matter? What did he care what they thought?

"Look at you squirm, Nara!" Inoichi was taunting, daring. Shikaku wanted to smack him silly. "You must really have it bad for this chick. Why do you want to keep her such a secret, huh?"

"Shit! Shut up Yamanaka!" He tried to rise to his feet and pushed his friend's shoulder, "lemme outta this booth. I gotta go take a leak."

Inoichi made a nasty comment about the real reason Shikaku was heading for the men's room that made Chouza choke and sputter.

"Sheesh, you'd think I was married to you guys, or something. I miss one dinner and night out drinking with you two and it's the end of the world. Boo hoo," Shikaku made a great deal of rubbing his eyes like a crybaby. "Boo hoo, poor Inoichi, poor Chouza, What'll they do if Shikaku's not there? Guess you two are gonna end up playing grab ass with each other, huh?"

Chouza blushed and hissed. "Shikaku, keep it down, we're in a restaurant. Can't you take a little teasing about your date?"

"It is NOT a date!" Shikaku bellowed.

Just then he noticed the petite brunette glaring daggers at him as she accepted her bag of take-out and stalked out the door.

"Motherf–" Shikaku mumbled as he stared after her. "Yamanaka, you prick!" Inoichi had risen from the table to let Shikaku slide out of the booth and he rammed his shoulder into the blonde's on the way out.

A/N:Inspired by "Holding Out For A Hero" by Frou Frou.

"Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need – I need a hero…" ~ Frou Frou

Just to clarify a few things – in this fic Shikaku is 19 and Yoshino is 16. I think that's pretty close to the age difference given on some reference sites. I've seen some sites that list them at the beginning of the series as 38/36 or 40/38 so I think I'm pretty close.

Re: the cursing – yea – I know – they curse a lot. What can I say? They're guys. Not yaoi-boys. They curse. And drink. And curse some more.