People are Troublesome

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.

Boyfriend… Shikamaru stared up at the ceiling, suddenly wide awake. The word had jumped into his brain after he had noticed a weight on his chest and realised that it was the arm of the aforementioned boyfriend. I have one of those… I didn't even know I was into guys… Or maybe it's just Hidan?

For someone who hated touching, he had become incredibly touchy feely all of a sudden. From the moment they had realised the affection was mutual, Hidan had barely released him from his grip except for when he had to. And even then it was with much reluctance and huffing. Shikamaru hadn't had this much physical contact in years and it was strange for him.

Hidan had made a small grumbling sound and shifted a little, still holding onto his chest. Shikamaru risked a glance down at him. He was still fast asleep, his face soft and his cheek squished up against Shikamaru. It was damn adorable and even though he had strands of silvery hair going up his nose, Shikamaru ended up watching for longer than necessary.

Oh. Shikamaru looked back upwards in an attempt to will his heart rate to slow down. Now that I'm noticing it, I react to him a lot more than I thought I did. It was a surprise that he hadn't realised how he felt before this.

How am I going to explain this? Do I even need to? His friends would have told him when they started a relationship so he figured he should say something. But then he realised how much of a pain in the ass all the questions would be. They can all just work it out for themselves.

Mainly he needed to work out what he was supposed to be doing. They'd stared at each other a lot and there had been very awkward contact. As both of them were new to the very idea of relationships, it was hard for them to know how to proceed.

A hand moved up his chest and he could feel the light touch of a finger running across his jawline. Hidan may have been more awkward than Shikamaru but he seemed to be more confident in his actions. Unfortunately Shikamaru was not very adaptable to these new forms of physical contact. Hidan was aware of this and was moving slowly, occasionally twirling strands of bristly hair around his finger.

"This is still weird." It was good that he was at least comfortable enough with Hidan to be honest with him.

"Hmm…" Hidan sounded more subdued than Shikamaru had ever heard it before.

Apparently the white haired one was now incapable of human speech and was instead nuzzling Shikamaru's chest and making contented humming sounds. Shikamaru wrapped his arms around his sleepy partner; it was almost uncomfortably warm being held together like that, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"Are you feeling OK?" Hidan was just weirdly quiet.

"Hn…" Hidan reached over to the table.

"What are you doing?"

"Just gotta do somethin'." It was now clear that he was tapping something out on a phone.

"Should I be worried?"

"Maybe." Hidan tossed the phone to one side and gripped tightly to Shikamaru again.

"We're late for school again aren't we?"

"Yep."

"Are we going to skip again?"

"Yep." And so it was decided.

"I am gonna be in so much trouble." Asuma would probably tell Yoshino like the weasel he was.

"Who cares? Fuck em all."

"My mother will yell at me."

"The only person affected by this shit is you." Hidan was mumbling and slurring a little in his half-asleep state. Why do I keep finding him cute? It was like a switch had been flipped in his head and now it couldn't be turned off.

"What are we gonna do today?" He'd hoped Hidan would feel better after his hangover day.

"Lotsa things." That his eyes were still shut was not a promising sign. "Sleep first."

"I might have to get up." The grip tightened.

"Stay."

"All day?"

"Just a little bit…" Hidan sounded nervous like he feared Shikamaru would be annoyed.

"Alright. For you." Shikamaru tried to ignore the red he could see on Hidan's ears; his own blush was embarrassing enough.

-Page Break-

"Hidan, you have turned into a koala." It was OK when they were sitting down but when he was trying to clean dishes it was annoying. "Go sit down."

"No." Shikamaru sighed. Nice as it was, he couldn't really move.

"I'm not going to suddenly disappear you know." It was how it seemed Hidan was thinking when he was gripping him like that. Hidan mumbled. "What?"

"Nothin'." He was released and Hidan retreated to the other room.

Why is he being so clingy? He'd never been that bad before, even if he had followed Shikamaru around everywhere at first. It's weird for him, right? Is it just how he is or is there a reason? And how the hell do I find out anyway? I could ask…

And it wasn't just the clinginess, there was also the lack of conversation. Not that he wanted to hear all the whining and he didn't want to be yelled at about stupid things. The lack of conversation was just odd.

I guess he's the same as me. Shikamaru didn't know what to do in the new situation and Hidan didn't seem to know what to say. How do you go from being friends to being a couple anyway? There has to be some kind of book on it. Sai would probably know it.

Hidan was slouched on the chair with a fair-off expression on his face. He looked so sleepy up until the moment Shikamaru sat next to him. Then he latched on to him again, burying his face into Shikamaru's neck.

"Are you OK?" This weird dejectedness didn't fit what had just happened.

"Yeah…"

"You don't sound OK." He sounded like he was depressed. "You want to talk about it?" It actually felt like it was alright for him to ask.

"I feel kinda weird." His face was covered up entirely as it was pressed into Shikamaru's shirt. "And I don't know why."

"Weird how?"

"Like somethin' bad is gonna happen." Shikamaru didn't understand where that had come from.

"But… What happened is good, right?" Now this was nerve wracking. Was he regretting confessing? Probably not but it was a reasonable fear to have.

"Very good. Too good." Too good? When Hidan moved away, Shikamaru could see how nervous he looked.

"How can something be too good?" He'd never had that feeling before.

"This kinda shit doesn't happen to me. It's too good. So somethin' bad must be about to happen soon." Shikamaru would have been sceptical had Hidan not looked so genuinely distraught at this idea.

"What kind of bad things?" Why does he think that? He should probably know but he couldn't see what would warrant this kind of pessimism.

"Like you might realise how shit I am, or might regret agreeing to this,or maybe you'll find someone better, or-."

"OK stop that." This frantic stream of worrying would get worse if he didn't do something about it. What do I say? "Hidan… I wouldn't have agreed if I wasn't sure. I'm not going to change my mind."

"Even though I'm annoyin' and stupid?" He seemed to be tearing up.

"Have you been thinking about this all day?" Hidan nodded. "You should have told me."

"But I hate doin' this! I'm so stupid!"

"No you're not." Shikamaru still didn't know what to do but he put his hand out and placed it on Hidan's head, gently stroking his hair. "You're really not stupid."

"I am now." Is he crying? Oh shit. "It's supposed to be a good thing and I'm ruinin' it!"

"Hidan…" There were so many things he wanted to say but he couldn't quite translate them from thoughts to words. He wanted to tell him it would be OK and he was fine and that he shouldn't worry. But sometimes words didn't really help and telling someone that things would be OK wasn't always enough.

What would Naruto do in this situation? He was the only person Shikamaru knew would be able to do something about this and actually make a difference. But since he was the one involved, Shikamaru had to the one to help. Talking wasn't going to do it while he was this emotional so Shikamaru reached out and gripped Hidan, holding onto him and letting him cry it out.

I wish he could be happier about this… I wish I could make him happy. This wasn't the best of starts but he wasn't going to let it carry on this way. It was just strange that Hidan was showing him this side so easily. He hadn't know that he was so afraid and insecure about this. This is why he tried to run away. And why he had to get drunk to talk to me.

Shikamaru held onto him for a while and waited until Hidan started to quiet down and stopped shaking. He still held onto Shikamaru as tightly as he possibly could.

"Have you stopped?"

"Yeah… Sorry…" He still sounded afraid.

"Don't be. It's alright." It wasn't like he could choose not to be anxious. "You can trust me."

"I do…. Wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"And I trust you. This…. Is gonna be weird since we're not used to this yet but we'll get there. You're great anyway. I like being around you." This is embarrassing. He had to do this though since it would make Hidan feel better. Hidan released him so he could stare, eyes still red from all the crying.

"… You like me."

"I do."

"You like me." At this point it sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"We discussed this last night… And technically I love you." Hidan froze up.

"You love me."

"You're not going to cry again are you?" He was looking tearful again.

"No… Why do you love me?" That idiot.

"You're asking me that now?" Hidan stared. Apparently he was. "Well… You make me smile I guess? We have fun. And you're weird but in a good way. And you…" Ugh. Don't make me say this. But with Hidan staring at him like that, he had no choice. "You're cute."

"Cute?!" Hidan looked pretty embarrassed and the staring was making Shikamaru embarrassed too. "You have weird taste."

"I know! But that's just how I feel." He made it too easy for Shikamaru to say what he was thinking. "And you. Why do you like me?"

"I didn't say?"

"No." Hidan thought for a second and then paled.

"Shit! I didn't tell you!"

"You could do now." He wanted to understand why someone had picked him as a partner over someone more lovable.

"You're nice to me. And funny. And you don't give a shit about stuff! Oh! And you're kind of cute, you know?"

"I am definitely not cute." All he did was nag. And he looked apathetic at best.

"Yes you are! I think you're cute! And you called me cute so fuck you!"

"Touché." Though now it feels like he's taking revenge.

"Err…" Hidan started fiddling with the hem of his shirt, picking at the threads he had pulled at. "Sorry for bein' weird…"

"Don't apologise. Just keep telling me when you feel bad so we can do something about it."

"That'll get pretty annoyin', pretty quickly." It's that often?!

"If you're my… My boyfriend…" He hesitated at using that word out loud for the first time and Hidan started going pink. "Then you need to talk to me. And I'll do the same when I have problems. We'll work these things out together. We're still friends anyway."

"You're such a good person you asshole!" Is he happy? I think he is. The scowl had reappeared but that didn't mean anger. "I fuckin' love you!"

"And I love you too." That part would hopefully get easier with time. Being open had never been his strong point. Hidan yanked him over and he was once again kissing him as they held into each other. It was comfortable and Shikamaru tried to forget how self-conscious he was and to actually enjoy it. Though they quickly sprung apart when they heard the front door opening. This was the furthest apart they had sat in the months they had known each other.

"Hey Shika, where's the-?" Shikaku froze when he was met with a glare from both his son and his son's scary friend. "… I have something to do upstairs." And he slowly backed away before he was attacked.