To those who asked, yes it is my wedding. I've been engaged since I was 17 and still in high school. I'm 23 now. Our families made us wait (and weddings are expensive).
Choji's POV
There was only one real regret in his life, which ironically was connected to his fondest memory. It started when he was six. He had always been big for his age and as he became older the more he heard the word 'fat' directed at him. It stung that word. It was made worse by the fact that girls were the ones who said it the most. Girls didn't seem to like boys who ate as much as he did. His mother was the exception. She had no issue with how much Choji's father ate and could actually eat almost as much. He wanted to meet a girl like that. Not so he could date her, he was not ready for that, but so that he knew there were girls like that in the world still.
He was in this frame of mind when he saw a butterfly. It had unusual markings on its wings, but it flew off before he could get a good look. Without thinking he took chase. He was looking up at the butterfly, stopping him from noticing the orange and white figure in front of him. He barrelled right into them, knocking them to the ground hard. Choji stayed standing, looking down at the one he had ran into. It was a little girl with shoulder length, silky blonde hair, reminding him of when the sun hits ripples in the river. Her blue eyes were dull, looking at the ground. The white shirt she wore was unharmed but dirt splattered her long, orange skirt.
"I… I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," she stammered, shaking, her eyes wide, filling with tears.
Choji had never seen behaviour like this. She shook so badly he thought she would fall apart but at the same time she appeared to be shrinking into herself. She was pale, not naturally so, since her hands were tan, and she was skinny. The collar bone that peaked out from her shirt was protruding so badly that Choji could probably have wrapped his hand around it completely. The girl looked positively terrified and when he held out his hand to help her up she flinched, crawling away from him.
"I'm sorry. I won't do it again," she yelped as she shook her head. She tripped on her skirt as she went to get up, it being too long for her.
"You don't need to apologize," Choji assured her. "It wasn't your fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." He sat down on his knees slowly, keeping his hands in his lap, visible to the girl. This calmed her down. "I'm sorry. Are you hurt?"
She shook her head, her shaking slowly subsiding.
"That's good. My name is Choji, what's yours?"
"Uzu-"
"Choji, there you are." At Choza's thundering voice Uzu jumped, trying to crawl away. "Who's your friend?"
The girl froze, as though she hoped she would become invisible if she stayed still long enough. Choji's mother put down the picnic blanket she was holding, walking slowly up to Uzu.
"Hello, sweetie, what's your name?"
The blonde didn't speak, didn't move, only her eyes widened more. She looked like a very frightened statue, with her arm outstretch so she could crawl forward, her knees unaligned. She would have made a very beautiful and thought provoking piece of art if she wasn't real.
"Her name is Uzu, mum," Choji spoke up.
"What a pretty name." Choji's mum knelt a safe distance from Uzu, smiling at the girl. "Mine is Aiko."
The woman was always a kind, loving person. Shikamaru had commented a number of times how she made people feel welcome and safe. She spoke softly to Uzu, as though coaxing a baby rabbit out of hiding. Slowly Uzu started moving again, putting her hand down and finally sitting up.
Choza didn't move, and seemed to be trying to not breathe too loudly. He obviously knew his size and appearance would frighten Uzu again. Choji's mother made sure to put an end to that.
"This is my husband, Choza, he looks scary but he's a big teddy bear."
"What's a teddy bear?" Uzu whispered, speaking in front of the two adults for the first time.
"It's… he's very cuddly."
"Oh."
"We're going to have a picnic," Choza started, indicating the basket he held. He spoke slowly, delicately, with a soft, open smile on his face. "Do you want to join us, Uzu? We have too much food so you will be helping us."
Choji realised that although he didn't understand Uzu's behaviour his parents did. They knew what was wrong with her and how to help fix it. He wanted to ask them but something about how Uzu behaved made him decide he didn't want to know. Part of him didn't want Uzu eating with them, judging him, but another part of him knew why her collarbone stood out like it was. And if there was one thing an Akimichi couldn't stand was someone going hungry.
Slowly, Uzu nodded, still looking like a frightened mouse. When the Akimichi family moved over to a soft patch of grass to lay their picnic blanket on the little blonde girl trailed behind. Every time Choji tried to slow down for her she would stop, staring at him with wide eyes. When they had put the blanket down and all sat on it, Choji's mother turned to Uzu, patting the spot between her and Choji.
"It's alright, you can sit." When Uzu's body just shook Choza started to pull the food out of the picnic basket. As the smell from a variety of hot foods and fruit filled the air Uzu twitched, taking discrete, deep breaths. Aiko dished out a plate and put it in front of Uzu's free spot before the two elder Akimichi started making small talk between the two of them, dishing out food for themselves and Choji. When his father handed him his plate he also gave Choji a meaningful look. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Uzu taking tiny steps towards the picnic blanket.
Choji realised what his father was trying to tell him. Uzu was like one of Shikamaru's deer when they first meet a non-Nara. If you moved too fast, or payed them too much attention than the deer became scared and ran away. Choji tried not to grin when Uzu finally sat on her knees next to him. He tried to not breath too deeply, encase she ran but instead she simply picked up her chopsticks, looking at Aiko. It only took a glance for Choji to realise that Uzu was trying to learn how to use them.
With a smile at the small girl, Choji showed her how to hold the two wooden sticks, without saying a word. She copied him and then waited. Choji picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks, watching as Uzu did the same. She waited until Choji took a bite before raising the dumpling to her lips. Her eyes lit up and a smile appeared on her face as she ate the rest of the dumpling.
Once it was finished, Choji noticed that she didn't move onto another piece of food. Instead she was watching the bigger boy, almost expectantly. When he picked up another piece of food, Uzu picked up the same one from her plate. He didn't know why she waited for him to bite the food first but he found himself not thinking about how much he ate, or how he must look to Uzu and anyone who walked passed. He ate until he was full, Uzu matching him food for food until her belly swelled.
"I'm sorry about your skirt," Choji said as he ate a slice of pear.
"It's okay," Uzu muttered, nibbling on her own slice of pear, the juice running down her fingers. "It's not really mine. I got it from the charity bin. It's too big."
"Why did you choose it then?" Choji asked, wiping his hands on a napkin. He figured he would let Uzu finish her pear before he moved onto something else.
"I like the colour. It makes me happy." Uzu appeared calmer and open when distracted by food. She was having trouble keeping a hold of the slippery piece of fruit.
"You should always wear orange than. If it makes you happy."
Uzu looked down at her skirt before looking at Choji. "Is that what this colour is?"
"Yep." He smiled as Uzu put the last piece of pear into her mouth.
The blonde girl sighed, resting back. She had long moved from her knees to sitting cross legged. "I feel warm and… solid. I don't feel like I'm going to float away."
"I think you're full." Choji chuckled.
"I like this feeling. Thank you, Choji." Uzu smiled brightly, her eyes lighting up when she did.
/ / / / / / / / / /
The house rattled violently, making Choji jump awake. He lay in bed, wondering if the house was going to fall down on top of him. Once his mind settled down, he realised someone was knocking hard on the front door. He heard his father answer the door through his open window.
"Shikaku, what are you doing? It's three in the morning! You look awful."
"Can I come in?" The other man's gravelly voice was thickened, as though he was close to tears.
"Of course."
Choji heard the front door close with a click and two sets of footsteps walk passed his room, towards the living room. Holding his breath, Choji waited until the noise had dulled before getting out of bed. He quietly made his way across his room before opening the door. He crawled down the hall, knowing his footsteps would be too loud. Peaking around the corner, into the living room, he could see the shadowy forms of his father and Shikaku Nara.
"Are you going to tell me why you tried to wake up the entire house?" Choza asked in an even voice.
"Yoshino kicked me out." Shikaku took a rattling breath. "They attacked him. How can grown men and women justify hurting a little kid? He is the same age as Shikamaru but Yoshino only sees a monster."
"What did they do to him?" Choza whispered, appearing to know who his friend was talking about even though Choji didn't.
"They destroyed his apartment. The furniture, the cupboards, even the food and utensils are destroyed. They ripped his clothing to shreds, and his mattress. But they hurt him too. He has bruises up his arms, a couple of fractured ribs and they tore his hair out. His scalp was bleeding. His hair looked red."
"That explains the blood on you. Is he okay?"
"I… I don't know. This all started because he had long hair. Who attacks a child over something like that? Or for any reason." Shikaku made a choking sound before dropping his head into his hands.
"I saw him only a few weeks ago. His hair was pretty," Choza commented solemnly. "Why did Yoshino kick you out though?"
"I told her I was going to give part of my pay to the kid until everything was replaced. She didn't like that. Any chance I can stay here? It'll probably be for a couple of weeks at this rate."
"Only if you let me give some of my pay to Naruto as well."
Choji heard the half hearted chuckle from Shikaku. "Way to twist my arm."
Before the two men could spot him, he crawled back to his room, wondering who Naruto was and why he was attacked.
/ / / / / /
Students entered the room in batches of twos or threes. Choji sat in his usual spot, at the end of the aisle, and waited for Shikamaru to arrive. He looked over at the door, turning to face the front again as someone jumped in front of his desk. With a jump and a startled yelp Choji saw the new student standing in front of him with a large smile on his face. He couldn't remember the boy's name. It started with an 'N' Choji was sure. He was a loud character. Not only was he loud spoken but he was loudly dressed. He sported a pair of pants that used to be white but was now a grey, a powder blue shirt and an orange, sleeveless jumper vest that clashed violently with his bright yellow hair.
"Heyya," the boy started, with a wave at Choji, his smile growing to splitting length. "Look!" he exclaimed, pulling his vest out for Choji to see, as though he couldn't easily spot it anyway. "I'm wearing orange!"
Choji's eyes narrowed. The boy's voice was loud and grating, and within the few weeks he had disrupted the entire class. With a roll of his eyes, the bigger boy sat back, crossing his arms. "I can see that. You're a bit of an eye sore."
It wasn't the first time that the boy had heard a statement like this from someone within the class, and yet, he looked surprised. The blonde's bright eyes dimmed as his smile dropped. He swallowed thickly, looked at his feet.
"Yeah… of course. Sorry for annoying you," the boy stammered, running his hands repeatedly over his bright vest, as though trying to dim the colour. "I'll… I'll just leave."
The boy walked off, his shoulders slumped. When he dropped into a chair far from Choji he rubbed at his eyes.
"What did the Uzumaki kid want?"
Choji jumped at the question, only to see Shikamaru standing next to Choji's chair. After a moment he realised what Shikamaru had said to him. "Uzumaki?"
"Yeah, Uzumaki, Naruto." Shikamaru slid into the seat next to Choji, instantly putting his head down to fall asleep.
It leaked into his mind slowly but when it did he gasped. "Uzu!"
Looking over at the blond he pictured him with long hair and an orange skirt. It had been a year since he had seen Uzu, and he had thought she was… well female, but Naruto had the same large blue eyes, the same hue of blond hair that no one else in the village had and was wearing orange. If it was Uzu, than he was wearing orange… because Choji told him too. The realisation caused a pit to form in his stomach. He had insulted Naruto for showing him that the words he had spoken ages ago were still important.
He went to stand and talk to Naruto, not knowing what he was going to say, when Iruka-Sensei walked in. Their teacher told them all to sit and pay attention, cutting off Choji's chance to change seats.
"Today you will be taking a test," Iruka-Sensei announced to a choir of groans. "If you fail the test when I return the marks you will have detention, so work hard."
Iruka-Sensei slammed his hand down onto the desk in front of Shikamaru when he handed Choji the test sheet. Shikamaru sat up, rubbing his eyes and slid his piece of paper towards himself. Choji shot Naruto a look, to find that his eyes were wet but he was now looking down at his test with a frown. Although he felt guilt claw its way through his stomach Choji couldn't think of anything to make it better.
/ / / / / / /
He had been trying to find time to talk to Naruto alone. He had hoped he would be able to create the opportunity when he saw the blond outside Shikamaru's house. Although Choji and Shikamaru had somewhere to be there was still time to pull Naruto aside and speak to him about what Choji had done in the academy. But then a ninja had attacked Naruto.
It was Shikamaru who had noticed first. He had looked away when Naruto addressed Choji about joining Team Seven for a mission. It didn't take much for Choji to tell that the blond had first turned to Shikamaru to fill the position. When the dark haired ninja tackled Naruto Choji was surprised, and admittedly the thought of "finally" crossed his mind. But then he saw the black beasts barrelling down on them. He grabbed them and squeezed, watching them pop into what looked like black ink.
Looking down, Naruto's eyes were wide, his hand pressed against Shikamaru's chest, as though ready to push him away. Once Naruto gained a grasp on the situation Shikamaru slowly moved from above Naruto, glaring their enemy down. He was so far away that it was hard to make out any facial features. He was pale though, with dark hair and clothing. It was, of course, Naruto who charged in for an attack. Thanks to that the mysterious attacker, who seemed to be just some ninja wanting to rile Naruto up, Choji didn't find the time to apologise.
It wasn't until Naruto returned from his mission that Choji was able to track down the energetic blond. He had checked Naruto's apartment only to find that the Genin wasn't home. However, he spotted the vibrant colours that signified Naruto's presence. Walking closer he realised that the boy was standing in the front garden of the village orphanage. He was talking to some of the children that lived there, crouching so that he could hear them better. A little girl moved forward, sitting on Naruto's knee as she whispered into the blonde's ear, hugging a doll to her chest. The doll looked homemade and as Choji looked around he noticed that all the children had a doll of some kind and Naruto was handing out more to those who were without one.
Naruto spotted Choji walking closer, his smile dropping a little in the corners. Giving the girl on his knee a hug, Naruto said goodbye to the children around him, who all jumped forward for their own hugs. After the blond had hugged the children goodbye he stood, pulling the hem of his shorts back down. Although this was hardly the first time Choji had seen Naruto in odd clothing it still caused him to pause. The orange shorts that Naruto wore had black piping, but only reached half way down his thighs. They also sat on his hips in a way that did not fit male clothing. His dark green shirt had the red swirl on the back like the Chunin vest and Naruto had orange streaks throughout his blond hair.
"Hey, Naruto," Choji greeted, walking up to the orphanage's fence. "Can we talk?"
"Yeah, sure." Naruto smiled at the orphans watching before picking up an empty bag and jumping over the fence. He led Choji away from the curious young gazes. "What is it you want? I'm meeting Shikamaru for lunch and I want to see Hinata today too. I feel like I haven't seen her at all since I got back."
"It's about when we were in the academy." Choji decided to be blunt, since he didn't want to keep Naruto from Shikamaru. When he only received a confused frown he said the one word that would make him follow through with this conversation. "Uzu."
"Oh." Naruto crossed his arms over his chest, still frowning at Choji but without the confusion. "What about it?
"I wanted to apologise. I didn't recognise you but even so it's no excuse. I'm sorry I was mean to you. I like your orange clothing. It suits you, and it makes you happy, so even if I didn't like it that shouldn't matter. I hope you can one day forgive me."
Naruto's frown deepened, making Choji feel worse, until a large smile broke out on his face. "It's alright. My clothing is kind of an eye sore but I don't care. You're forgiven."
"I like the streaks in your hair." Choji flicked one with his finger, feeling the difference in texture between Naruto' soft hair and the coloured lock.
"Thanks, I won them at a festival." At Choji's confused look Naruto laughed and pulled back some of his blond hair, revealing a clip connected to the orange locks. "They're fake."
"What were you doing at the orphanage?"
"I made dolls for the kids while I was travelling to keep me busy and I was just handing them out. Anyway, I have to meet Shikamaru. See ya later."
"Huh," Choji breathed as Naruto ran off. "I didn't even know he could sew."
It was surprising to find how easy it was to gain Naruto's forgiveness. All he had to do was admit he did something wrong and the blond was ready to move passed it. It was rare to find such a thing in humans.
As Choji walked passed Ino's family's flower shop he was beaconed in by Ino who wanted to tell him that yet again Asuma-Sensei had been in to buy flowers. Their teacher still denied that they were for Kurenai-Sensei. Team Eight and Team Ten had started betting on when the two senseis would admit that they were dating. Currently Kiba was winning with the declaration of 'never, they are just one day going to stop denying it. At their wedding they will still never admit it'.
Their short conversation turned into a half an hour stay when Ino's mother demanded that Choji have a hot beverage and some homemade cookies, fresh out of the oven. Choji was hardly complaining. The only mother nicer than Ino's was his own in Choji's opinion. When he left the shop though, he was still hungry and the alluring aroma of cooking noodles drew him in.
When he ducked under the protective curtain of Ichiroku Ramen he stopped, silently cursing his luck. He had hoped to give his best friend space so that he could have as much privacy with Naruto as he wanted. And yet, Choji had succeeded in walking in on a date, one that looked much more like a date than the day Shikamaru became a Chunin. Choji remembered the look of annoyance and disappointment that sat on the genius' face when Choji appeared. He often wondered how no one else noticed that his dinner with Naruto was meant just for them.
Shikamaru and Naruto sat turned to face one another, their knees knocking against each other. When they saw Choji they both looked over.
"Hey, Choji, here for lunch?" Shikamaru asked, clearly having no intention of getting up if Choji was there for him.
"Yeah, don't mind me." The bigger Chunin looked at the empty seats, trying to decide how far to sit away from the two without appearing rude.
"Grab a seat, you're going to have to wait a while," Shikamaru gestured to the two available seats behind him. "Teuchi is making more noodles."
Choji sat one away from Shikamaru as the dark haired male turned back to a collection of torn pieces of napkin that sat on the counter between Shikamaru and Naruto. At first Choji thought it was rubbish someone had left until Shikamaru started explaining shogi to Naruto, pointing at various pieces of paper. That's when Choji recognised a pattern to the placements of the scrap paper. It was a makeshift shogi board. Whenever Shikamaru pointed at a 'piece', Naruto would point to the same one on his side, listening closely to what Shikamaru told him.
Once Naruto appeared to have a grasp on the game the two started to play. Choji observed them out of the corner of his eye, trying to fight the pleased smile that begged to appear on his lips. Shikamaru could be a funny, light-hearted guy… if he could be bothered, and if he was comfortable enough. Choji had seen that side of him many times but never in such a public space.
"A pawn can't move like that," Shikamaru joked, leaning forward to stop Naruto's hand. When he did his free hand went to the blonde's knee to steady himself.
"That's a rook," Naruto retorted, moving the piece with a laugh. He removed one of Shikamaru's scraps of paper, leaving Choji wondering what piece that paper had represented.
"I think you're tricking me," taunted the Nara. He contemplated the makeshift board, clearing pondering his next move. His stoic expression was broken by the grin trying to force its way onto his face. He tried to remain unmoving as Naruto's finger yet again poked Shikamaru's cheek, the blond making a loud popping noise with his mouth. As he reached over to move one of his pieces he gave Naruto's knee a squeeze, grinning when Naruto yelped and softly punched Shikamaru's shoulder. "Check."
"That's bad, right?" Naruto clarified, getting a laugh and a nod off Shikamaru.
Choji noticed the smile Ayame shot at the two as she went about chopping up ingredients. It looked as though the three got to the food stall just after the lunch rush. Ayame was clearly enjoying watching the two customers.
"Can that piece move there?" Choji couldn't clearly see where Naruto pointed but he assumed it would save the blond.
"Only if they are a gold general," Shikamaru replied. Choji couldn't help but notice that his friend still hadn't moved his hand off Naruto's knee, and instead had moved it up just passed the knee.
"Well than it's a golden general," Naruto declared gleefully, reaching over to move the piece.
"No you don't! If they are a gold general than that's check mate for me." Shikamaru grabbed Naruto's wrist, though he smiled.
"So I win? Cool."
"No, you don't win." Shikamaru grabbed Naruto's other hand as it came over to move the piece. The dark haired male laughed at the blonde's pouting expression. He had to wrestle with Naruto when the blond tried to break out of his grasp. In the end Shikamaru pulled one of Naruto's hands towards him, nipping at the palm and smirking when Naruto squealed. "You're cheating."
"Am not." Naruto stopped trying to get his arms free and instead grinned. "Admit it, you forgot which piece of paper was what piece on the shogi board."
"Yeah," Shikamaru planted a discrete kiss on the inside of Naruto's wrist. It could have easily been mistake for another nip if Choji hadn't been watching closely. He dropped their hands into his lap, running his thumb over Naruto's knuckles. "I guess playing shogi with bits of torn up napkin wasn't that smart."
"All well." Naruto shrugged, only for his stomach to grumble. He threw back his shoulders with a groan. He probably would have toppled backwards if Shikamaru hadn't been holding onto his hands. Shikamaru pulled Naruto's hands, making the blond fly forward. Naruto was forced to stand on the foot rest of his chair, his hands and Shikamaru's hands the only thing between the two. Looking down at the Nara, Naruto gave Shikamaru a surprised but amused smile.
Shikamaru only grinned up at the blond. "How's it going?"
Naruto scrunched his nose up comically before returning to his seat as Teuchi regretfully sat down their bowls of ramen. The elderly man twitched the corner of his mouth at Choji as he sat the Akimichi's bowl down, before discretely looking at Naruto and Shikamaru. Choji just grinned in return. Although the two had food they were still spending more time talking to each other than eating. They were also turned towards each other and Shikamaru's hand had found Naruto's naked knee again.
It wasn't until after Choji's third bowl of ramen, as he leant over the seat between him and Shikamaru for a napkin that he noticed something. Shikamaru's hand was still on Naruto's thigh, his other hand holding his chopsticks as though nothing was unusual. However, Naruto's free arm was resting across the blonde's lap, and his free hand was on top of Shikamaru's. Naruto's fingers followed the dark haired Chunin's digits up, moving over the back of Shikamaru's hand before moving back down to his fingers, continuing this motion again and again. Neither acknowledged what they were doing and truthfully they probably both assumed no one could see their joined hands. It made Choji begin to wonder if they were already dating. There was no reason to keep it from anyone. Kiba would probably give Shikamaru grief for choosing Naruto to be with but that would be Kiba's own way of showing his support.
"Naruto!" a voice yelled, drawing all three males' attentions.
Hinata stepped into the stall, followed by Kiba who quickly sat down, ordered food and put his head down on the counter. Slowly, Shikamaru's hand moved off Naruto's leg before Naruto turned to give the female a one armed hug. Hinata blushed darkly at the contact.
"I was hoping to see you today. I have a present for you." Leaning down, Naruto pulled something out of his bag on the ground, holding them out for Hinata. "I won two sets at a festival and thought you would like some."
Hinata took the light purple hair extensions, looking at them with bewilderment. When she noticed that they were the same as Naruto's orange ones she asked the blond to help her put them in. Naruto instructed her to sit; standing and clipping them in, making sure the clips were hidden.
"You can control the length by funnelling chakra through them," Naruto explained, shortening the one he placed in Hinata's fringe. "I had to shorten all mine today."
"Thank you, Naruto," Hinata squeaked.
"Was your hair longer before you came back?" Shikamaru asked.
Naruto looked over his shoulder, smiling tightly. "Yeah. I cut it before I entered the village."
Choji winced, remembering when Shikaku nearly knocked down his door. He wondered if Shikamaru knew of the incident since the dark haired Chunin reached out, putting a hand on Naruto's hip, the only body part he could reach.
"I would have liked to see you with long hair."
Naruto half turned back to Shikamaru, opening his mouth to speak. He didn't get to talk, however, because someone burst through the protective curtain, wrapping an arm around Naruto's waist, their other hand going to the back of Naruto's head before they kissed the blond. The assailant pulled Naruto up until their chest pressed together, a rumble almost like a laugh resonating from his throat. Pain radiated off Shikamaru so heavily that Choji could almost feel it. Kiba lifted his head at Hinata's surprised squeal, his eyes bulging in surprise.
The man was a giant. He had to stoop to kiss Naruto, who was under average height for a male. The man was over six foot, with wide shoulders and thick arms. He had messy brown curls and tan skin like the one he held. Naruto's hands, that hung limp at his sides lifted, pressing against the man's chest until he finally pried their bodies apart. Splattering, the blond reached for the closest glass of water, which was Shikamaru's and gurgled the substance before spitting it onto the ground.
"Haruki, you ass!" Naruto wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand before he was attacked again, this time by a petite little girl who jumped into Naruto's unsuspecting arms.
The girl had dark hair with a tinge of green and the tiniest build Choji had ever seen. He felt as though he would crush her with his little finger if he tried. The man, Haruki, was laughing, the splatter of freckles on his cheek bones appearing to dance as he doubled over with laughter.
"Ahh, what's wrong, babe?"
"Call me that again and I will kick your ass," Naruto threatened with a deep growl, ignoring the girl who was hanging from the blonde's neck like a necklace.
"Promise?" Haruki asked with the biggest, cheekiest grin Choji had ever seen. If the man hadn't just kissed Naruto Choji would be inclined to like him.
"Naruuuuto," whined the girl, bouncing her body so it pulled at Naruto's neck. "You haven't said hello!"
"Hello, Riko, how is it going?"
The girl appeared to be the definition of sweet and innocent. Choji couldn't help but smile at her.
"Good, now that I have you pressed against me." Choji retracted his thought. "Introduce me to your hot friend."
Naruto sighed. "No molesting them. This is Hinata, Kiba, Choji," Naruto gestured to each half heartedly, stopping to look at Shikamaru, "and this is Shikamaru."
"Please don't stick your tongue down Naruto's throat. I'm planning to eat here," Kiba moaned, his shoulders sunken. From what Choji had heard he had been on a long mission.
"He won't." Naruto shuttered. "I hate it when you do that."
"Well than sense me next time and you won't be punished." Haruki just grinned, crossing his arms over his wide chest.
"Hey, Naruto, can you show us around?" Riko asked, finally detaching herself.
"Well, I was kinda…" Naruto looked over at Shikamaru.
"It's fine. I'll teach you shogi when we have an actual board." Shikamaru's voice sounded strained to Choji and his shoulders were clearly tense.
Naruto looked shocked. "Oh, okay than." He reached for his wallet but Shikamaru held up his hand.
"I've got this one."
"Thanks, if you're sure."
"He's sure," Riko declared, pulling Naruto away by the hand.
The mournful look on Shikamaru's face left Choji wondering what to do. When an idea formed he wondered how badly he was going to regret it.
/ / / / / / / / /
The Leaf Village had an unusual legal age rule. For a civilian to be able to drink they had to be eighteen. For a ninja they had to be sixteen. Everyone knew why this was but no one liked to point out the lower life expectancy for half the village's population. He, Ino, and Shikamaru had been drinking once with Asuma-Sensei. It was the day of Ino's 16th birthday, the day after Shikamaru's birthday. It was to celebrate all three of them reaching 16, even if Choji had to wait four months.
He hadn't really known what he was doing when he suggested to his friend that they go out drinking. In a way he was hoping the atmosphere and the alcohol would erase the memory of Haruki kissing Naruto from Shikamaru's mind. Looking at how a depressed and drunk Shikamaru slumped over the table Choji was starting to think it didn't work.
"You know, Naruto didn't return the kiss," Choji pointed out.
"Yeah, an she didn' return mine e'va."
The bigger ninja frowned. He had thought of Naruto as a girl before too, but if Shikamaru was only infatuated with Naruto because he believed he was a she than Shikamaru might be opening them both up to heart break. Perhaps it was just a slip of the tongue though. However, the bigger shock was that his friend had actually made a move on Naruto.
"When was this?"
"When Narut' was abou' to leave with tha Toad Sage ta train. She jus' said 'I have ta go' and left. He did say she didn' mind our goodbye in the letta she sen' me." Shikamaru took a swig from his sakẻ bottle.
"Did he push you away and wash out his mouth after calling you an ass?" Choji asked, sipping his own drink. He had had far less than Shikamaru and had noticed that the other male was starting to slur his words.
"No," Shikamaru admitted slowly. "Bu' he hasn' said anythen abou' id since comen home. She obviously feels nothen."
Choji snorted. "I don't think Naruto feels nothing. He's definitely more comfortable with you than he is with anyone else."
The constant shifting of gender pronouns were confusing Choji, but at least they were only talking about Naruto, so that made it easier.
A grin appeared on Shikamaru's face as he rested his head back. "I'm glad. Narut' is more amazen than before."
"Oh, how so?" Choji chuckled.
"Looks, power, heart. Everything. Her eyes remin' me of tha sky when I cloud watch. She has a million differen' smiles, and Narut's ass is amazing."
That one caused Choji to choke on his drink. "Oh," he coughed, his eyes watering.
Shikamaru nodded, taking a large gulp of his drink. "Had ta force myself no' ta look today. Those pan's will be the death of me." He took another mouthful of alcohol.
"You're in love with Naruto, aren't you?" Choji asked, only coming to the realisation of how deep his friend's feelings went now.
"No," Shikamaru snapped, draining his bottle and reaching for the waiting next one the waitress had sent to their table earlier. She had said it was from an admirer but Choji could tell by the way she had looked at Shikamaru it had been from her. "If I was in love with Narut' than I could ge' ou' of love with him. I love her, Choji, with everythen I have!"
With a sigh, Choji pushed his bottle to the side, giving Shikamaru a levelled stare. "Listen, Shikamaru, Naruto is a person who will forgive easily if you are genuine. If you do something and Naruto takes it the wrong way, than he won't hold it against you if you apologise. But I think Naruto is someone who finds it hard to believe good things can happen for him, like someone falling in love with him."
Shikamaru continued to give him a mournful look as he drank his drink. He studied Choji. "How can Narut' like me, when we're nothen alike?"
"You and Naruto have things in common."
"I mean' us." At Choji's raised eyebrow Shikamaru sighed. "She liked you in the academy, for a liddle bi' bu' you were an ass and los' her. You're her type."
That was not something Choji had known and it made him feel even guiltier about what he had done. He had known that he had hurt Naruto, but to have done so when the blond had a crush on him. "That was when we were kids, and I think I might have been the first person to be nice to her. You two are definitely closer than Naruto and I. And tastes changes over time." When Shikamaru continued to slump in his chair Choji shook his head. "You're not going home tonight. Your mum will go off at you. You can stay at mine."
When Shikamaru nodded Choji stood and started picking his way through the crowd to the bathroom. He figured that he and Shikamaru would head home soon, seeing as his friend was losing more and more of his speech. The only problem was that when he returned to their table Shikamaru was gone.
Writing drunk dialog is difficult. Luck for me next chapter is Shikamaru's POV and he thinks his speaking coherently. R and R.