:::::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.

Italicized words are Shikamaru's thoughts.

Well, enjoy and let me know what you think.

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

Ch.3 Onna wa Kayowai :: Girls are Frail

Shikamaru hummed a lazy tune as he arrived at a clearing that he had discovered a few weeks back. I knew this would be an awesome cloud-watching spot; deep inside the forest, but not dark and gloomy. His usual smirk was almost a smile and reflected his good mood as he sprawled out on the ground. Shikamaru relaxed his muscles and his brain shut out all the strategic information and decisions that were bouncing around from his earlier mission. Ha--. Now this is life. Shikamaru immediately fell asleep and his light snores filled the clearing.

After a while, Shikamaru groggily woke up to peculiar sounds. By looking at the sun, he figured that he had been asleep for about three or four hours. The noises didn't sound threatening, but he decided to check it out just in case. Sure wouldn't want to be killed during a nap...hm, then again, I can think of plenty of worse ways to go.

He shuffled towards the noise and recognized the thuds of a fist hitting a practice dummy. As he got closer, he saw Hinata. She looked as if she had been practicing for hours judging by the amount of sweat and blood that was coming from her. Geez, I would never train until I got bloody. Thank god my shadow techniques require mental rather than physical dexterity. Hinata looked up from her training and turned meek eyes onto him.

"Uh, I-I'm sorry. I-I knew y-you were s-sleeping b-but this is the only training g-ground with a d-dum...dummy with the t-tenketsu drawn out and... um, I'm sorry, I, uh, tried t-to be q-quiet but I f-forgot after a while and... um, uh..."

"I was here to watch the clouds rather than sleep anyways."

The two stood looking at each other as if expecting the other to speak. Hinata proved too shy to continue, while Shikamaru was too lazy for polite chitchat. Whatever. Shikamaru started to walk off and Hinata turned back to her training. However, when Hinata let out a small gasp as another gash was added to her already bruised knuckles, Shikamaru turned around to observe her critically.

Ha miteranne-yo(1). This training of hers just reminds me of her match with Neji; it was like watching a blind puppy head-butting a wall to get to the other side. Sure her determination deserves some respect, but the outcome was and is predictable. She just ends up hurting herself without really gaining any strength. Even as Shikamaru was analyzing her, Hinata continued to push her limits as she practiced the Hyuuga taijutsu style on a dummy.

I'm sure Naruto meant well in encouraging her, but he just made it worse. Persistence without any skill to back it up is just plain obstinacy. Why isn't anyone helping with her blindness first before encouraging her to try hard? Shikamaru snickered internally. I suppose I'm the only one with the audacity to call a Byakugan-holder blind. Still, it's so obvious that the Hyuuga taijutsu isn't her style; any headway she'd make in it would be minimal at best.

Too bad she was born into THE Hyuuga. Thank god I'm not from some prestigious family that would force tradition on me. Of course they're too narrow-minded to see that the family style isn't the only way to use the Byakugan. Hm, seems that hard-headedness runs in the entire family.

Really, her best chance to become a decent ninja would be for her to be more open-minded. All she has to do is find a style that would work for her. Maybe something that would make her light weight an advantage through speed and flexibility of movement.

"Na--, Why don't you back up and try using some weapons?"

"E-eh? Umm, ano-, b-but then I c-couldn't hit the, the t-t-tenketsu."

"Yeah. But that's the advantage."

Confusion was clearly painted onto Hinata's features.

"Look, you're not heavy and powerful enough to do well in a mostly immobile form of close combat. You're better off staying at mid-range and mixing weapon assaults with some other form of taijutsu that'll use your small body as an advantage. Forget the Hyuuga taijutsu style. It doesn't work for you."

Hinata just looked at Shikamaru blankly. It was obvious that she couldn't even begin wrapping her mind around Shikamaru's suggestion to abandon her family's teachings.

Of course. She doesn't have enough self-confidence to even contemplate that years of tradition could be wrong. Eh, oh well. I tried. It's too troublesome to get involved in such a messed up clan anyways.

"Hey, it's just a suggestion. Whatever."

Hinata stood inert for a few minutes looking insecure. Then, with an apologetic look to Shikamaru and a lot of hand-wringing, she started back into her training routine. A---nd puppy goes back to head-butting. Oh well. At least lots of people think dumb puppies are cute. Maybe it'll get her some guy that wants to "protect" her or something...probably someone really annoying and full of himself. Like Kiba. Heh.

Now, what was I doing? Right, cloud-watching. Guess I'll try out this spot some other time; I'll have to make do with my usual place near the river for today. Too bad I don't know when I'll have enough time to try again though. With a loud sigh, Shikamaru headed off towards his new destination.

To Be Continued

(1)Loosely translates to: I can't watch OR it's hard to stand by and watch.

So yeah, Shikamaru doesn't talk much, but I'm sure genius-boy is always analyzing people around him. So I hope you won't think that this chapter is out-of-character with him thinking so much about Hinata. I'm sure anyone would feel sorry for the poor girl and want to help her out.

-Review Replies-

I'm getting so few reviews for this story. I really hope that people are reading it, but just not reviewing. It's sad because I really DO like this story and have spent the most effort on this. Okay, enough of sounding desperate.

For the people who HAVE reviewed, I appreciate you so much! Thank you!! Hope you are enjoying!

Youkolvr: Thank you for your encouragement. You got me off my lazy butt to update

Tama: Glad that you're into alternate pairings too!

Shika love: You've reviewed every chapter so far! Love you!!

Well, gotta go work on the next chapter. Hopefully Hinata's stuttering won't make it an awkward piece.

Cheers,

Violettachan