Title: Pieces of Me
Characters: Nara Shikamaru, Tenten
Song artist: Ashlee Simpson
Summary: Salvation came on the sixth day, in the form of twin buns and an infectious smile.
Shikamaru was bored.
Which was saying a lot, because he wasn't exactly known for his eagerness to do anything strenuous, mostly because he usually found anything even remotely akin to work as troublesome.
But he's been stuck in the Nara compound for days, courtesy of a broken leg, the result of Pein's recent invasion of their village.
The first two days weren't so bad; he finally had time to catch up on watching clouds, which he wasn't able to do because of missions. Chouji and Ino visited him on the third day and spent the afternoon with him, before informing him that they'll be leaving for a B-ranked mission on the morrow. By the fifth day he was more than eager to get out of the house and do some real work (something that didn't consist of reading data after data that the Hokage had sent him to decipher), but the medic in charge of his recuperation (a.k.a. his troublesome mother) threatened that she would break his other leg if he as much as stepped out of their house.
Salvation came on the sixth day, in the form of twin buns and an infectious smile.
"How are you holding up, pineapple head?" She casually asked, popping behind him without a hello. He was sitting on their front porch, a shogi board to his left, the pieces in disarray. To his right sat a pile of unread scrolls, sent by Lady Tsunade about an hour past.
If there was one thing that never ceased to amaze him, it was Tenten's inability to start any conversation with a formal greeting.
"What do you think?" he muttered, slightly peeved that he didn't detect her presence. Damn her ability to be stealthy, even when she had spent years with two of the noisiest shinobis in Konoha.
The kunoichi grinned and threw something at him. It bounced on his lap and made a sad thunk on the floorboard.
Shikamaru blinked and picked the strange object. "What is this?"
Tenten's grin became wider. "It's Rubic's cube."
The shadow binder frowned. "Who's Rubic?"
The weapons' expert shrugged in response. "Not the faintest idea." With a half-skip, she promptly sat beside Shikamaru, pushing the shogi board away. "I got it from a band of traveling gypsies on the way back from my mission. Thought it might help get your mind off things," she said, nodding at the pile of scrolls on Shikamaru's other side, "not that you're doing a very good job keeping it on them to begin with."
Plucking the cube away from Shikamaru's hands, Tenten expertly twirled in on top of her left index finger before twisting a face counterclockwise. The Nara genius watched in mild amusement as the kunoichi made a couple more turns, before tossing the cube back to him, colors all mixed up.
"Now you fix it," she told, more like demanded of, him. When Shikamaru stared blankly in reply, Tenten chuckled. "Each face should consist of only one color."
Shikamaru tched. "You did this," he muttered, holding the cube between his right thumb and index finger, like it was diseased or something. "You fix it." He was bored, but he wasn't masochistic.
Tenten's grin only increased in width. "Too troublesome for a genius?" She pretended to get the cube from him. "Okay then, I'm sure I can force Neji to try it or some—"
Shikamaru was halfway done before Tenten could even finish her sentence.
Because Neji isn't the only one who has the right to be insecure/jealous XD
Well, here's the next installment. Pretty short, but I think it's only fitting after the previous sad chapter. Got the idea as I was brainstorming on what Shika can do while recuperating from his broken leg. Because I don't remember what he did after the Pein Invasion Arc. Doh.
Thank you to all who reviewed and patiently waited for this chapter. I know it's been a while and we're progressing at a snail's pace, but hey, at least we're getting there, right?
Reviews will be lovely, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows.
