Summary: Shikamaru is moving out of his family home. Naruto's apartment building has been slated for demolition. Neither make enough on their chuunin salaries to get a place in a decent part of Konoha. Together though...
Pairings: ShikaNaruShika
a/n: Thanks much for your reviews! I appreciate every single one of them. I hope you'll enjoy the second installment.
Disclaimer: Kishi owns it all...not me. I just like making the characters dance to my own tune.
THE ODD COUPLE
Ch. 2 - Say What?
A couple of days went by and Naruto was no closer to finding a new apartment than he was when he started. Tsunade wasn't much help. The first time he tried to ask for help, she was already on her third bottle of sake after dealing with the council for some reason or another. Needless to say, that didn't go well.
The second time was a day later. She had been asleep and, at the sound of his voice, had knocked him through a wall. Of course, it was only natural that he got up yelling at her. He was doing ok until he called her a drunk old hag in the heat of anger. There was now a huge Naruto shaped indentation in the wall on the other side of the hallway where the blond landed after the Hokage threw a chakra infused punch at him.
Now it was day three and he was hoping that the third time would be the charm.
He passed by the spot he flew into yesterday. The unfortunate ninja who ended up assigned to fix the mess gave him a glare. He glanced away and moved on quickly.
Of course, he found her asleep at her desk, snoring loudly and drooling on her paperwork. But no one could say that he didn't learn from his mistakes. So, he created a clone to wake her up while he stood far back against the door. The clone leaned down until his mouth was close to her ear. He took a deep breath and then yelled.
"BAA-CHAN WAKE UP!"
Tsunade, with a half snore, jolted awake. She glared at the clone, who was doubled over laughing, and punched him. The clone dispelled with a cloud of smoke. Before the smoke cleared, Naruto's senses started going haywire just in time to see the round object that came out of the smoke, which was speeding on target toward his face.
"Shit!" He ducked and heard the crash as whatever it was went over his head and through the wood door. He pretended not to hear the exclamation of the repairman right outside the door. The poor guy would never finish his job. "You trying to kill me you old hag?!"
Another object came flying that, this time, he couldn't avoid.
Ok...so he learned from one of his mistakes.
With a groan, he rubbed his sore head and stood up. As the smoke cleared, he could see Tsunade's eye twitching and one hand balled into a fist. "Brat...If you're here to bother me about an apartment again I'm going to hurt you."
"Uh..."
"Naruto..."
Naruto tried his best to look and sound pitiful, hoping for some sympathy. "But baa-chan, I only have two days left to find a new place."
"Have you actually looked for one?" He gave her a sheepish look and raised his arm to rub the back of his head.
"Well...no?"
"Then why the hell are you here?! Do I look like a landlord to you?"
"No...But, I don't know where to start." Naruto replied with a pout.
The blonde woman sighed and calmed down. She knew the young man couldn't help not knowing these things. She reached on the other side of her desk, grabbed a newspaper and tossed it to him.
"Here brat. Start with this." She watched him look down at the paper in confusion. The poor kid probably never even looked at a newspaper before. "Go to the classified section, look for apartments for rent, and then go down the list. That's it."
Naruto still looked confused, but he gave her a smile anyway. "Thanks baa-chan."
"You're welcome. Now get the hell out of my office and don't bother me again brat."
Naruto left her office quickly, before she could get violent again, and breathed a sigh of relief. At least his limbs were still in tact this time. And he did get a newspaper out of the deal. Too bad that looking meant nothing if he didn't have enough money to pay for anything.
Maybe he should go back and ask baa-chan for some extra missions. Though she already warned him not to come back. He had a feeling she might just try to kill him if he bothered her again.
So he ended up walking back toward...well, he couldn't exactly call it home anymore, could he? On the way, he passed the gates of the dilapidated Uchiha district.
Wait a minute...
Naruto backed up a few steps and looked through the gates for the longest time. And then he slowly flashed his trademark grin.
Just maybe he had found a solution to his problem.
The team of three made their way into the village. They were a little worse for wear, but nothing unusual after coming back from a B ranked mission. The largest of the three groaned as his stomach growled loudly.
"I'm soooo hungry."
"You're always hungry Chouji." Ino replied with a roll of her eyes.
"I can't help it. I ate the last of my rations at the edge of Fire Country." Chouji patted his empty tummy.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru sighed wistfully as the team walked toward the hokage tower to give their report. He always felt a bit more nostalgic whenever they returned from a mission. It was a tradition, started by Asuma, to go for barbecue to celebrate a successful mission. But Asuma wasn't here. "We'll get something after our report."
"Not until I take a shower! I refuse to go out like this. Yuck!" Ino pulled her sticky shirt a few inches away from her body in distaste.
"Fine, whatever...after that then, troublesome woman." He replied.
"Well come on then. The sooner we report, the sooner we eat!" Chouji said with a grin. He walked faster and Ino followed suit. Shikamaru was the only one who hung back.
"Hurry up you lazy ass!"
The shadow-nin rolled his eyes and grumbled, but moved marginally faster.
"What did you say?"
There was a dangerous undertone in the sound of that voice. But Naruto ignored it and grinned at his teammate.
"I said can I stay with you for a while?"
Sasuke's response was to slam the door in the blond's face.
"Come on teme! Please? It's only until I find a new place." Naruto knocked again and yelled through the door.
Silence.
"Dammit teme! Open the door or I'll camp out on your doorstep all day and...uh...I'll...I'll talk your ear off. Yeah!" It was lame, Naruto knew. But he figured the teme would at least respond to it. But, he still didn't hear anything. So, he climbed through the bushes and peeked through the windows. No Sasuke in sight. He climbed the walls to the second floor and looked again. Still no Sasuke.
"Bastard! He snuck out on me." With a growl, he felt for Sasuke's chakra and, after finding it, followed the trail to the training ground not far from the house. He stood behind a tree and watched his teammate practice taijutsu. It was the only thing the Uchiha was allowed to do since he was still on probation after coming back to Konoha.
"See something you like dobe?" Sasuke rolled his eyes. The blond was so loud, he couldn't help but hear him enter the clearing.
Naruto's mind sputtered to a stop. First he blushed at the intimation then, when his sense kicked in, his eyebrows furrowed into a frown. "Shut up teme!" He growled. Then he pointed at him. "You know it's rude to leave when someone is talking to you." Sasuke stopped moving and raised an eyebrow at the blond.
"You were talking? The way I see it, you were just spouting nonsense."
"It's not nonsense. And would you just give me a second to explain?"
"What's to explain? You asked. I said no. End of story."
"But they're tearing down my apartment in two days."
"Not my problem."
"Pleeeeeease? It's only until I find a new place."
"Ask someone else."
"Like who?"
"Don't you have any other friends?" Anyone but him.
"Yeah, but you're my best friend."
"Not by choice..." Sasuke muttered.
"Besides," Naruto continued, "why would I do that when you have all this room to yourself? Come on teme...it's not like you can't spare one room."
Sasuke sighed. This conversation was going nowhere fast. He had a feeling he would regret it if he said yes. But, if he didn't agree, Naruto would bug him the rest of the day and he'd never get any training in. He glared at the ground like it was the one at fault for putting him in this position. He couldn't win, could he?
"One week."
"Huh?" The Uchiha rolled his eyes. He hated repeating himself.
"You can stay for one week. So you better hurry and find yourself a place. If you don't, expect to find everything you own burned to ashes. I mean it dobe."
"So I can stay?"
"Yes usuratonkachi, you can stay. Now leave me alone and let me train in peace." Sasuke glared for emphasis to forestall Naruto's celebration - Naruto was just about to jump on his best friend and yell at the top of his lungs. But the glare, stopped the hyperactive ninja in his tracks.
"Yeah yeah fine. Thanks teme, I owe you." He waved and started back down the path he appeared from. "I'll go get my stuff. Later teme!"
"Hn." He watched the blond jog away.
Yes, he was certain he would regret this.
The barbecue sizzled on the grill in front of the three teammates. Chouji tapped his fingers impatiently against the table, practically drooling over the food that was taking way too long to cook. Shikamaru decided it was easier to doze until the meat was finished.
"You know Chouji, that's not going to make it cook any faster." Ino stated.
"I can't help it Ino. I'm starving." He looked over at his dozing best friend. "Hey, Shika. How's the apartment hunt going?"
"Hm?" The other man yawned and opened his eyes halfway. "Alright, I guess."
"Liar!" Ino yelled. Then she explained the activities of a few days before. "I ended up being the one who did all the work! And then I had to drag him along to look at the options."
"You didn't have to Ino." Shikamaru retorted, his voice muffled by the arms covering his head. "It's too much work to find a place."
"With that attitude, you'll be staying with your mother forever!" Ino glared at him. "Chouji, I found the perfect place. But he won't take it."
"Why not?" He asked.
"I don't have the money." "He's too cheap!" Came two explanations.
"I told him he should just get a roommate to share the expenses, but he won't listen to me." Ino continued her version of events.
"Why don't you just get a roommate?" Chouji asked Shikamaru.
The other male groaned. "It's too troublesome to have a roommate."
"That's not a reason." The blonde growled.
"It's reason enough for me."
In the meantime, Chouji grabbed a grilled piece of meat and started eating. "You two can keep arguing if you want, but I'm eating." He said through bites.
Ino punched him in the arm. "Don't hog it all!" She put a few pieces on her plate and then, being the nice person that she was, pulled a few pieces for Shikamaru. Kami knows if she didn't, Chouji would eat the rest and he wouldn't get any. Although, it would serve him right.
The blond ninja walked, mumbling a song under his breath. Well, it wasn't actually a song...more like, "Ramen, ramen, I love ramen" over and over again. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Shikamaru and Chouji coming out of the barbecue stand and split off to go different directions. Shikamaru walked his way.
"Hey Shikamaru."
"Naruto."
"Where you headed?"
"Anywhere that's away from Ino."
"What did she do?" Somehow, Naruto had steered the lazy ninja away from the direction he was originally headed and toward Ichiraku Ramen.
"Nothing more than usual. She's such a pain." He looked around, surprised at where he ended up, but at the same time not really surprised, considering his company. He shrugged and sat in a stool next to the blond and rested his head on top of his arms. As long as it was away from his meddling teammate, he didn't care where he ended up.
"Gimme the usual old man!" Naruto yelled to the ramen chef.
"Sure thing Naruto."
A piping hot bowl of ramen was placed in front of the drooling blond. He breathed in the wonderful aroma and smiled. Then he grabbed his chopsticks and broke them apart.
"Itadakimasu!"
The first bowl was inhaled within seconds and replaced with a second bowl. Then a third. In the midst of his fourth bowl, he remembered his companion and glanced to the side. "You're not going to order anything?"
"I just ate."
Naruto shrugged and turned back to his bowl, which was finished quickly and replaced with another.
Shikamaru would've dozed off had he not thought of something. "Hey Naruto?"
"Huh?" He looked over at the lazy nin with a noodle hanging out his mouth. He quickly slurped it up.
"Have you seen any cheap places for rent by your place?" Blue eyes went wide.
"You're looking for a place too?"
Shikamaru raised a brow. "You too?"
"Yep. My building is getting torn down."
"That sucks."
"Yeah. I'm staying with the teme right now."
"Really?" He was surprised at that. "The Uchiha actually let you stay?"
"Well, it took some convincing, but yeah. For a week anyway."
"Ah."
"I've been trying to get baa-chan to help me out. She gave me a newspaper. But still, I don't have enough money to pay for a new apartment. I've got the money I would've paid for rent, but I know it won't be enough for any other place unless I find something around my old place. But most of them have been torn down too."
"Yeah, well my troublesome teammate keeps trying to get me to buy this apartment she likes. But I can't afford to pay 15,000 ryo."
"Why don't you just get a roommate?"
"It's too troublesome to have a roommate." Shikamaru sighed. He was starting to sound like a broken record.
Naruto shrugged. "Well yeah, but then you'd only have to pay half. Even I could probably afford that."
"Yeah but I'd have to deal with someone else around all the time. That would be a drag."
"Well, it's an idea." Naruto got up and stretched. "Ah! That was good. I guess I better go get the rest of my stuff out of the apartment and drag it to Sasuke's. See you around."
"Yeah." Once the blond was gone, Shikamaru left and walked toward home. He really didn't want to go there, but it's not like he had anywhere else to go. Kami, as much as he hated dealing with it, he really needed to hurry and find a place. "What a drag..."
If only he had 15,000 ryo. He wouldn't have to deal with this anymore.
"Why don't you get a roommate?" Everyone kept asking him that. He didn't want to deal with a roommate.
But...he didn't want to deal with Ino anymore either. If he got a roommate he wouldn't have to hear her constant complaining.
And it would solve the money problem.
Most importantly, the sooner he got a place, the sooner he could be away from his mother's nagging.
He glanced back at the direction he just came from...where he had sat with Naruto....
Who needed an apartment, just like him.
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