:::::Mendou na Koi :: Troublesome Love:::::

By: Violettachan

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and its related characters.

Summary: Shikamaru finds that love just won't leave him alone, no matter how troublesome.

ha- is a Japanese sound effect that symbolizes a sigh, kya- is a girly scream, and ne- is a girly sound put before or after sentences. Others may creep up, but they are mostly little things that won't take away from the meaning of a sentence.

Italicized words are Shikamaru's thoughts.

Well, enjoy and let me know what you think. And the pairing is a secret for later. Evil Grin.

:::::Mendou na Koi :: Troublesome Love:::::

Ch.1 Onna wa Mendou :: Girls are Troublesome

"Kya---- Sasuke-kun!!!!" "Ne-- Sasuke-kun!!!" "Sasuke-kun!"

Oh joy. It's started again. How annoying. Shikamaru sighed loudly. It was just his luck to be stuck waiting around until Ino could get her Sasuke-lover-fangirl syndrome under control long enough for him to drag her away to the team meeting with Asuma.

"Oi, Ino we're gonna be late."

"Urusai, Shikamaru. Stop bothering me!"

I'm bothering HER?? Uh, wasn't that supposed to be his line?? She was the one being bothersome and refusing to budge from the spot. God, the only thing the guy was doing was staring straight ahead.

"Look, he obviously doesn't want to talk or else he would have said something by now."

"Shut UP! He's being a good listener! Unlike you, baka."

Right. Is this extreme positivism or complete stupidity I'm facing here? Ino really was capable of both. Ha- whatever, this wasn't worth wasting brain power on.

"Hai hai. I got your point. See ya."

"WAIT!!! You can't go. Then Asuma will KNOW that you'd already let me know of the mission and it'll seem like I was being late on purpose! Stop being such a jerk! Ne, Sasuke-kun?"

Me? Jerk?? Oh well, I can handle that. Yawning, Shikamaru started to slowly slouch off. Let me see, it should take about 40 more seconds for Ino to notice I'm gone and I should be around the corner by then, forcing her to actually leave Uchiha and follow me instead of screeching for me to come back since she won't know how far ahead I will be. The smirk on Shikamaru's face would have made him look like the genius strategist that he was, if it hadn't been for his drooping eyelids and dull eyes which only showed sleepiness. As it was, he looked more like an insomniac that had learned the secret to a full night of sleep.

Great, here she comes. Why can't I have more than a few moments of peace? At home it's Mom and at work it's Ino, ha-... His inner sigh was cut off by Ino's screams.

"Shikamaru!! I can't believe you left me! God, have you even heard of teamwork before??"

Please tell me that ninja villages just happen to breed fiery, stubborn girls. They sure are great for kunouchis, but there is no way in hell that I would date someone like that. Please God, tell me they aren't all like that, so I at least have some hope of finding a NORMAL girl somewhere.

"Answer me! Don't you dare ignore me!!"

"But I was just following Uchiha's example of being a good listener."

"Oh no you didn't!! How dare you mock Sasuke-kun! You're just jealous of him because he's so much better than you! And because he's so handsome and cool and..."

Blah, blah, blah. Spare me. I've heard it all before. If anything, I feel sorry for the guy. He has to put up with hordes of girls like you and I can barely handle a single one. Not that Shikamaru actually had the guts to say that out loud. He WAS a genius after all and self-preservation was number one on his priority list as a ninja that actually planned to live past thirty.

"And he's totally into me WAY more than forehead-girl!"

There was the cue that she had finally finished her rant on "Sasuke-kun's perfection that no other guy could ever even dream to live up to". One down and only about 15 more Sasuke rants to go for today...Lucky me! Why couldn't Asuma have gone to pick up Ino? I would have been more than happy to go the extra couple of kilometers to Chouji's place. Asuma said it was because he would be faster, but I have my suspicions.

"So, Shikamaru...how come the mission came up so suddenly?"

"Oh, another team was supposed to go but someone got sick."

"Great!! We get the leftover rejects from some other team!!"

"You know it's not like that."

"Yeah right! If it was an exciting mission I bet the 'sick' member would have felt so much better mysteriously."

"...Yeah, you would do that."

"EXCUSE ME!!??"

As Ino started pounding on him, Shikamaru grimaced to himself. Shit. I didn't mean to say that part out loud. Gah, early mornings are just not my thing. Note to self: keep sarcastic remarks to a minimum when in enemy land even if it's just in my head.

"Ow. Stop hitting my head. I didn't mean to say that."

"Yeah! Well you should be sorry that you even thought that!!"

"Okay. Okay. I'm sorry. Jeez. Calm down. You'll leave permanent scowl marks on your face."

"WHAT!! No! I can't get wrinkles! What would Sasuke-kun think??"

As Ino whipped out a mirror to make sure that there was no permanent damage done to her face, Shikamaru patted himself on the back for escaping Ino's beatings for now. Ha! That gets her every time. I just have to be careful not to use it too often, or she'll catch on. Humming softly and gazing at the sky, Shikamaru continued on to the training grounds. Can't wait to get there. Hopefully the other two will keep Ino occupied so she'll stop bothering me too much for the rest of the day.

To Be Continued

I've been wanting to write Shikamaru for a while now! He's just another lazy bum until his genius shines through, and BAM he's one of the best characters in Naruto!! I must have a thing for lethargic geniuses...first Kakashi and now Shikamaru.

Well, let me know what you think. My plan is NOT a Shika/Ino pairing, so you'll have to hold tight for a while to find out who will be the "average girl" to catch Shikamaru's attention.

As I'm sure my other reviewers will attest to, leaving a review for me blows good karma your way. So drop me a line. I'd love to hear constructive advice on how to better my writing.

Cheers,

Violettachan

P.S. I've changed my mind on "Kakashi's Singleness." It will continue and has been updated.