The Facebook site is up. It's by the same name of this story. Hope you all like it, and this chapter.
It wasn't hard to spot Naruto amongst the number of guests walking around. Most of the guests were Nara's since Eiji didn't have any family, meaning most of the people had dark hair. All he had to look for was bright blonde hair and there she was. After the ceremony they had been separated. Along with the marriage certificate that Eiji and Airi had to sign, Shikamaru and Eiji had to sign documents to make Eiji an official Nara. It was amusing to watch Airi bouncing around with glee as they signed.
When he finally had time to track Naruto, he made sure to grab food from the buffet first. His stomach had made its demands known the moment he had smelt the variety of food options. Naruto was sitting at a table with Hinata, Ryota, and surprisingly, Temari and Kankuro. Sitting down next to Naruto, he raised an eyebrow at the two Sand Siblings.
"I don't think you two were invited."
"We weren't," Kankuro admitted with a smirk. "We're crashing the wedding for fun."
"If it helps we brought a gift," Temari added, taking a sip of her drink.
"It's fine. They are fun," Ryota said, signalling a one of the servers to bring Shikamaru a drink. "Temari was just telling us how Kankuro thinks Naruto is a girl."
Kankuro groaned as Naruto laughed and took a sip of her own drink.
"Maybe that's just his excuse to hide his arousal."
Naruto choked on her drink as Shikamaru looked at Hinata in shock. The girl sat innocently beside Naruto, patting the choking girl's back. Both Temari and Kankuro looked as surprised as Shikamaru felt, whilst Ryota cackled.
"I like this girl."
"Hinata, don't say things like that when I'm drinking," Naruto coughed.
The Hyuga girl just smiled as she stroked her friend's back. She chuckled when Naruto moved her cup away.
"No more alcohol for you!"
"More alcohol for you!" Ryota spoke up, putting his drink in front of Hinata. "Soo, Kankuro is having an identity crisis. But I'll give you this, male or female, Naruto is a good looking ninja."
Naruto smiled, pretending to blush. "Aww, you're embarrassing me. Though it would mean more to me if it came from the hot Nara."
Ryota gasped, a hand to his chest as he looked offended. "I'm not the hot Nara? Don't tell me Eiji is. He's been a Nara for only an hour."
"No, it's not Eiji. I've never seen him that way. Besides, the best looking Nara has dark hair."
"I don't know," Temari piped up with an amused smile, "Ryota is a handsome man."
"At least someone is helping my ego. So Oh Wise Naruto, who is the best looking?"
"If it's not me than we're going to have some issues," Shikamaru taunted, putting an arm around Naruto's shoulders.
"Well you are the only one here I've seen without a shirt."
Shikamaru went bright red as their friends laughed. Rolling his eyes at Naruto's joke, he cleared his throat. "Let's change the subject so that I can go back to normal colour."
"You know, the more and more time I spend with you, the more I like you," Temari commented.
"Please don't team up to torment me!" Shikamaru groaned.
"Now that's an idea," Hinata declared. "Naruto, you should make Shikamaru confused about your gender too. It could be funny."
It was hard to tell who laughed hardest, Ryota, Temari, or Naruto. Kankuro blushed as heavily as Shikamaru did as he tried to bury his face in his hands.
"Can't do that," Naruto sighed sadly. "Shikamaru has seen me almost completely naked."
Shikamaru spluttered, not being able to think of a single retort.
"WHAT?!" Hinata and Kankuro yelped.
"How?" Temari and Ryota asked at the same time, looking eager for the answer.
Once Naruto stopped laughed, she took a deep breath. "He made sure to see me in nothing but a towel, and snuck up on me when I had no shirt on before too."
"You answered the door in a towel! I didn't know you'd just had a shower. And it's not my fault you decided to train without a shirt on!" Shikamaru hoped his voice didn't sound as screechy as it did to his ears.
Naruto gave him a devilish smile. "What about when you were drunk and –"
The blonde gave a squeal when Shikamaru covered her mouth with his hand. "Don't go making things up."
Naruto just laughed against his hand in reply.
"Here, cuz, this might help with the embarrassment," Ryota chuckled, pushing Shikamaru's drink closer and signalling to the passing waiter for another.
Shikamaru downed the burning liquid, accepting the new drink with a coughed thank you. "Naruto, why are you picking on me tonight?"
"Mostly cause Temari bet me that I couldn't make you so embarrassed that you would turn to alcoholism." Naruto grinned cheekily, holding her hand out to a disheartened Sand Ninja.
"I'm glad my humiliation is profitable," Shikamaru grumbled.
"I'll make it up to you later," Naruto teased with a wink, making the table laugh.
"I forgot you get like this when you drink. Though I think I prefer it when you have Genma to annoy. Don't make me your new Genma, I deserve better than that."
Naruto leant over, putting her head on his shoulder and looking up at him with big, blue eyes. "Okay, I'll be nice."
"I don't believe you," Shikamaru laughed. He turned his gaze on the Sand Siblings. "And I can't believe you two crashed a wedding. Do you really have no other friends in the village that you can't go without Naruto or I for a night?"
"We thought it would be fun to drop in and saw that it was a buffet," Kankuro explained with a shrug.
"I wanted to see what traditions your village had too," Temari added. "We don't have buffets at a wedding. It's an interesting idea."
"The buffet is actually Eiji's tradition. In his tribe, when there was a wedding every family would bring a dish to the wedding to symbolise the couple always having support, and never going hungry. Eiji told me it was Airi's idea to have every family in the Nara Clan provide a dish. I actually really like the tradition. It's sweet." Naruto popped a dumpling into her mouth with a smile.
"So we should be looking forward to a delicious buffet at your wedding?"
Naruto and Shikamaru turned their heads to the male voice behind them, noticing Ino and Choji, both with plates full of food. They joined the table, Choji smiling at Shikamaru in amusement when he noticed how Naruto was resting her head on his shoulder.
"Honestly, I've never thought about marriage," Naruto confessed, picking up a chicken skewer to munch on.
"Really?" Ino asked in surprise. "What about children, ever thought about that?"
"Not really. Though I've raised children, and love children." At the baffled looks from those at the table Naruto shrugged. "When I was at the orphanage. The older kids and I took care of the babies. They were the ones you saw me giving dolls to, Choji."
"Wouldn't it have been the midwife who looked after them?" At Ryota's question Naruto burst into syndical laugher, surprising her friends.
"Mrs Huruma didn't care about anyone. It was all about the money and respect she got from the village. She would sleep through the babies night time feedings, let them sit in their own filth, and if they cried she punished them. She punished anyone who cried. Us older kids were the ones keeping the babies alive and safe. She didn't even bother naming half of them. We had to. Yasu was my little baby." Naruto pulled her frog wallet out, removing a picture of a little ten year old that had brown, curly hair in pigtails, freckles, and a missing tooth. "It was my job to get her to an age where she could handle herself. Even when I was kicked out of the orphanage I used to sneak in to see her. I was ecstatic when Mrs Huruma retired and the orphanage got a nice midwife."
Shikamaru took the picture off Naruto, looking at Yasu. He had seen a little girl hang around the academy when he was a student but hadn't known who she was waiting for.
"She's cute. Mrs Huruma is the woman who lives below you."
"One in the same." Naruto gave a cheeky smile. "Why do you think I like playing loud music so much?"
Shaking his head in amusement, Shikamaru handed back the picture of Yasu.
"You love kids, you have experience with kids, and yet you've never thought of having any of your own?" Temari asked in confusion.
"Has Gaara?" Naruto asked with a careless shrug. "It's not something I've ever bothered to think of. One day, down the road, I might. Until then I'm going to enjoy my food." Naruto put the skewer that she had ripped the chicken off into Shikamaru's coat pocket.
"Thanks," Shikamaru grumbled. He removed the stick and reached over, stabbing one of Naruto's remaining dumplings.
"Hey!" When Naruto tried to snatch it back her hand was grabbed by Ino on her other side.
"Nice nails, Naruto." As Ino tilted Naruto's hand to get a better look Shikamaru noticed that her finger nails were painted orange with black flowers on them.
"Thanks, Moegi did them, then she helped Hinata attack me!"
"I didn't attack you," retorted Hinata with a roll of her eyes. "I just thought those beautiful eyes of yours and that stunning smile would look good with some makeup on them."
"Aha! You are a girl!" Kankuro declared.
"Aha!" Temari mocked. "Men can wear makeup too."
"Yeah, they just call it war paint," Hinata added coyly, causing the table to laugh.
/ / / / / / /
He dodged around a group of people. He could spy the family member that insisted on being called aunt. Cutting behind the buffet table he turned towards the house and slipped in behind a waiter heading to the kitchen. Shikamaru wasn't sure why his house was being used for the drinks but decided not to question it.
Once in the abandoned hall leading to his bedroom he stopped, leaning against the wall. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath, letting his head rest back. He jumped when he felt someone come close to him. Looking over, he spotted Naruto standing next to me.
"Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you." Naruto leant against the wall, turned towards him. "You look annoyed. It's not the jokes from earlier, is it?"
Shikamaru gave a laugh, moving to stand in front of Naruto, trapping her between the wall and his body. He put his hands in his pockets, relaxing. "Nah, the jokes are all in good fun. The thing Ryota and I were worried about has started. I just had an aunt try to set me up with her friend's daughter… who is thirty and a mother of two."
Naruto snorted. "She has so little hope in your charm?"
"Apparently. Either that or she wants to make her friend the Mother of the Clan." At Naruto's confused look Shikamaru elaborated. "That's my mother's title. On top of being the mother to the Heir, she's seen as the Mother of the Clan. Whilst dad deals with any politics between the village and the Clan, or even inside the Clan, my mum deals with the social issues. So if two Clan members start fighting, she settles it, when a child is born to the Clan my mother is the first outside the immediate family to meet the baby. My dad is the brains of the Clan, and my mum is the heart. When I become Head I will be the brains."
"And you'll have to find yourself a heart," Naruto chuckled.
"Yeah, the one I have is faulty, it will only work for maybe another seventy years, since someone wouldn't give me the key to immortality."
Naruto cocked her head to the side, obviously having to think back to their joke in the hospital all those years ago. "I did! You wanted to know who I had had a crush on."
"Oh yeah, you liked Choji." Shikamaru laughed when Naruto pouted and punched him playfully. "But by the fact that you like kissing me, I'm gonna say your tastes have changed a bit."
"Who says I like kissing you?"
Moving closer so that their bodies touched, Shikamaru put one hand against the wall, the other cupping the curve of Naruto's jaw. "You've never stopped me. And you know what, I think I deserve a kiss, for all the jokes you've cracked at my expense."
"Will it make you feel better?" Naruto whispered with an impish smile.
"It really will." Before Naruto could give any type of cheeky response he kissed her. Everything left his mind. He didn't care that there was at least a hundred people milling around the estate. He didn't care that they were in the hallway leading to the main bathroom of the house. He didn't care that literally anyone could come across them. All he cared about was Naruto's scent wrapping around him, her hands moving over his shoulders, back, and sides, and the feel of her lips, tasting mildly of alcohol, on his. He pressed in closer, until their heartbeats became a pounding drumbeat.
Naruto's fingers found his hair, pulling the elastic free before tangling into his dark strands. The hand Shikamaru had on the wall moved to her waist, pushing her back with a small moan of surprise on her part. He felt his chest constrict, electricity shooting through his limbs, his heart gave an extra beat as the blonde before him sighed against his mouth.
A sharp clearing of a throat had the electricity shooting back to his torso, a heavy feeling dropping into the pit of his stomach. Pulling away from Naruto slowly with a groan that was equal parts disappointment and annoyance, he slowly turned his head from the panting blonde to the figure standing in the hall. It took him a moment to place the dark green hair, straight nose, and slightly squared off jaw of the waiter he saw.
"Can I help you?" Shikamaru drawled, before looking back at Naruto. He smiled when he saw that she had her head resting back against the wall, her eyes closed, breathing deep. He pecked her on the lips as Varric scoffed.
"I need to use the bathroom and you're blocking the hall."
"There's plenty of room to go around us," Shikamaru remarked calmly, studying Naruto's face, the way her lips were pinked and swollen, the blush to her tan cheeks, and the way she had a small smile on her face. As though she was paused, waiting for him to restart the world.
"Naruto," Varric spat, "Why didn't you tell me you rejected me to try and get with a Clan Heir?"
With a soft sigh and slow, precise movements, Naruto opened her eyes, turning them on Varric without lifting her head off the wall. Shikamaru almost shuttered at the hint of red in her blue irises. "If you think that was why, Varric, you don't know what kind of boy I am."
Shikamaru could almost feel Varric's flinch reverberate through the hall. The pain was short lived for the green haired man when he turned a dark glare onto Shikamaru.
"I'm pretty sure you only prefer him because if you end up with him you'll convince yourself that you are someone important," Varric spat.
Naruto lifted her head with the same predatory slowness, making Shikamaru drop his hands from her body. She stepped towards Varric, stopping short of him. "Do you really want to play this game with me?"
The smile that crossed Varric's face was almost cruel. "I don't know why you think you deserve better than me, but I promise you, that he is only using you. You're the Nine Tails. He just wants the chance to say he was the first one to –"
Naruto's chakra rolled off of her in a violent wave, knocking Varric clean off his feet. He landed three feet from where he had been standing. Scrambling to his feet, Varric charged forward and tried to throw a punch at Naruto, only to find himself stuck in place like a statue.
"Fine, you want to play?" Naruto hissed in a dark voice that made Shikamaru tremble.
The voice she used sounded like Gaara, when they had first met him. With a sickening pound of his heart Shikamaru realised that this was what the village had turned Naruto into. When pushed hard enough, this side of her was there, lying dormant. If Gaara had been a bloody blade for everyone to behold then Naruto was the assassin's blade. Clean, sharp, and gone in a blink.
"Varric, you have it backwards. You don't deserve me. The sight of you disgusts me. You are a coward, and you are pathetic. If you say anything like that to me, or about Shikamaru again I will make you regret it. This is your only warning. Now leave."
The moment Varric's body was released he turned and ran. Once his footsteps had disappeared from earshot Shikamaru walked up to Naruto, running his hands down her arms. Instantly, she flinched away from him.
"The Nine-Tails is affecting my mood. I refuse to touch you when that's happening. I don't want to hurt you again." With her shoulder's tensed, Naruto shot a quick look over her shoulder, allowing Shikamaru to see the heavy scarlet tinge to her eyes before she stalked off, leaving Shikamaru in the hallway alone.
/ / / / / /
It didn't take too long for Naruto to go back to normal, but by than they were surrounded by friends again. It turned out that Ino, Choji, and even Hinata were taking advantage of the free alcohol. Shikamaru knew without asking whose fault that was. He shot a glare at his cousin who grinned cheekily.
"Twenty-two, by the way," Ryota said, trying to defuse Shikamaru's glare.
It worked. The Nara heir snorted. "Pathetic. I'm already at fifty-three."
"What are you guys counting?" Temari asked, looking reasonably sober. Obviously Ryota wasn't able to convince her to keep up with him.
"How many times we've been asked when we will be getting married," Shikamaru explained with a dramatic sigh.
"Figures you'd get more. Everyone wants an heir from you." Ryota put a drink in front of Choji, who had finished his last one.
"And if I fail to, then you have to have an heir." Shikamaru laughed when his cousin paled.
"Would it help if you lied and said you had a girlfriend?" Naruto asked, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye that made Shikamaru worry.
"No idea if it'll help or make it worse. But they probably wouldn't believe him without proof." Ryato grinned, obviously picking up that Shikamaru was going to be tormented.
Surprisingly, Naruto just nodded before looking around at the waiters. "Are they only carrying alcohol?" When Shikamaru nodded, Naruto got to her feet. "Then I'm off in search of water."
When Naruto disappeared, Shikamaru watched Kankuro force Hinata up to dance, since Ino threatened bodily harm. When Shikamaru told the others about the prospective thirty-year-old single mother his aunt tried to set him up with his friends got a good laugh. Naruto returned without water in hand, making Choji ask how her hunt went.
"Couldn't find any, and the waiters are too busy for me to talk to. Apparently they are suddenly shorthanded. Oops." Naruto shrugged with a small smile.
"Well advantage of being with the Heir to the Nara Clan at a Nara wedding is that the waiters will listen to me. I'll go get you water."
"A man after my own heart," Naruto joked in a fluffy voice, causing their friends to laugh.
Shikamaru walked towards the dance floor, where the largest congregation of waiters could be found. He asked one of the waiters to get his table a jug of water and some cups before turning around to return to his friends. When he spotted his friends he noticed that not only were they all watching him and laughing but Naruto toasted him with a cup of water. As he frowned in confusion he felt arms sneak around his shoulders. He turned in surprise, grabbing their hands as he did so.
He nearly choked on his own saliva at who he found in front of him. A woman with curled blonde hair down her back, round, blue eyes, and a long, green dress that elegantly revealed curves that were slowly becoming familiar to Shikamaru stood in front of him with an amused smile. He was so shocked that he wasn't able to stop the woman taking his hands and putting them on her waist.
"Naruto?" he choked out as the blonde stepped in close, putting her arms around his shoulders again.
Pressing her chest into his, she leant back at her shoulders, allowing Shikamaru to hold her up. "One of them."
"You're the clone?" Shikamaru muttered, feeling dumbfounded.
"Well how else will I disappear before any of your family can get answers?" Naruto teased, shooting a look at a group of Nara's who were clearing watching them.
"You're here to torment me!" Shikamaru sighed, his hands moving to Naruto's back to better support her. When he saw some family members walking closer he quickly pulled her upright and onto the dance floor, successfully getting lost in the crowd.
"No, I thought your aunt should know that you have other prospects besides her friend." Naruto awkwardly follows Shikamaru's lead as they danced.
Shikamaru drew her closer to help steady her. He breathed into her ear, "So I have a chance with you?"
Naruto pulled back far enough to give him a coy smile. She looked over his shoulder before her eyes drifted back to his. "Our friend's can't see us from this angle." Moving in closer, she stopped with her lips only a breath away from his. "I wouldn't mind it if you kissed me when I didn't have chest binds on. The last time you were drunk."
Moving a hand up to Naruto's face, he pushed back a curl. "You know, you didn't have to wait until our friend's couldn't see."
Shikamaru felt the smile Naruto wore as she kissed him. It was much more subdued than their last one, but somehow Shikamaru found himself enjoying it more. He pulled Naruto as close as he could, one arm wrapped around her waist and the other running up her back to help support her. He could hear the song his cousin loved to sing as she walked around the estate playing in the background and his family dancing and talking around them. There was no trees, no empty hall, no closed door to hide behind. He had Naruto in his arms and no way to hide it. Sure, she was in her female form, looking much like the photo he had seen of her with Haruki and Riko, but it was still Naruto. Anyone who had seen her Sexy Jutsu would recognise her, and if anyone asked her name they would find out.
Too soon for Shikamaru's liking he noticed that he had forgotten to breathe through his nose and had to pull away. Resting his forehead against Naruto's, he smiled softly. He almost whined when Naruto gave him one last kiss and stepped out of his arms.
"Time for me to turn back into a pumpkin," she joked. With a wink, she added, "Have fun explaining this to your Clan."
With a muttered, "Troublesome Woman," he headed back to his table where his friends had been craning their necks, trying to spot him on the dance floor. Naruto was the only one who was still seated, sipping her water. From her smile he knew she had already dispelled her clone and knew what had happened. "You're a pain."
"Yeah," Naruto agreed, "but you enjoy it."
"Head's up, Shikamaru, here comes cousin Akira." Ryota nodded to the figure walking up to the table, making Shikamaru groan softly. Cousin Akira was as big a gossip as Choza, worse when it came to Clan affairs.
"Shikamaru," the woman gushed, leaning heavily on the man and smelling of alcohol. "Who was that stunning woman you were dancing with?"
Naruto sniggered into her hand as Shikamaru pushed his cousin off as politely as he could. "She's a friend, Akira."
"You two seemed awfully close for just friends."
Shikamaru gave her a half smile. "I never said we were just friends and that's all I'm telling you. Go enjoy the party."
Akira took the hint and left, allowing the Nara Heir to turn back to his friends.
"So Naruto isn't just a friend?" Temari taunted.
"No, Naruto is one of my best friends." Shikamaru wore a cheeky grin as Temari tried to pout and glare at him at the same time.
The rest of the night become somewhat of a blur. Clan members asked about the mysterious woman when they could corner him. Slowly guests left. The bride and groom went to Airi's house, which was now to be both of theirs. When the waiters left Shikamaru, Ryota, Hinata, and Naruto went into Shikamaru's house to keep drinking, talking, and laughing. Kankuro, Temari, Choji, and Ino all went home, or in the case of the Sand Siblings, to their hotel. Hinata eventually started going to sleep, making Naruto force the girl into drinking two cups of water before taking her to the guest room Shikamaru had offered. Naruto also told Shikamaru to make sure he drank water if he didn't want a horrible hang over.
Eventually it was just him, Ryota, and Naruto left. When the room started to spin, Shikamaru drank a bottle of water, used the bathroom, and went to lie down, intending just to rest. The moment his head hit the pillow his breathing softened and he fell asleep, leaving only Ryota and Naruto.
/ / / / / / /
"Why do you put up with it, if you think you're just a replacement?"
Ryota's voice tugged at Shikamaru's consciousness, making him groan. His cousin could never control the volume of his voice when drunk.
"How pathetic will I sound if I say that a large part of me is hoping to one day stop being the replacement?" Naruto's voice, whilst softer than Ryota, was still naturally loud, and it was obvious she wasn't trying to be quiet.
Getting up, Shikamaru crept out of his room, ignoring the dryness to his mouth and the slight pain in his head. At least the light in the house didn't hurt. He stopped at the end of the hallway, just out of sight of the lounge room.
Ryota sighed. "You deserve to be treated better though. From everything you've told me, with Choji, and Sakura, and Sasuke, for crying out loud, woman, you've suffered enough!"
Naruto laughed. "Choji is a sweet guy, he apologised and he meant it. As for Sasuke and Sakura, they will come around eventually."
"The point is that you shouldn't have to wait for them to come around. They should start treating you with respect and notice that you are an important member of the team, not just someone to push aside. As for the other stuff, well you're just kinda ignorant to a lot of that."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto playfully snapped.
"That you're innocent and choose not to deal with certain things, thinking that you can magically fix them."
"Yeah, see, I put all that stuff in a cupboard in my mind, stacked on top of each other. If I try to get one thing out everything will tumble down and I will drown. I roughly know the issue, so I try to work on it, so that instead of having to get it out of the cupboard, it will just disappear."
"Seems like a slow process," Ryota mused. "And kind of my point."
"But it keeps me sane…ish. And like you're one to talk!"
"What's that meant to mean?" Ryota yelped.
It was Naruto's turn to sigh. "You have an issue with Shikamaru in regards to Fie, but you won't confront it. He doesn't know what he did wrong, and you won't tell him."
There was a pause. "Naruto, do you know how a future stag leader gets named in this Clan?" Naruto must have given a visual response, for Ryota went on. Shikamaru wanted to stop him but found himself unable to move. "When the Head of the Clan gets married, the next in line presents the new Mother of the Clan with the head stag and she goes with the next in line to name the stag. It's a bonding experience. See the next in line is kind of seen as the Head's right hand, and the wife is seen as the left. If the two don't get along it can spell trouble for the Head of the Clan and the Clan itself. Not to mention it makes the Clan wonder what is wrong with the wife. Aunt Yoshino couldn't have more children after Shikamaru. It was a miracle she had him. So when he was born I was told that I was to be his protector, his supportor, someone he could confide in, and when he had a child I was to protect that child like it was the greatest treasure in the world. That meant protecting Shikamaru's wife when he gets one too. Normally it would be Shikamaru's younger sibling's job. I was looking forward to presenting her with the stag, and a beautiful, pure black one, no less, and having that bond with her. Shikamaru wouldn't be allowed to know the names that were rejected, or anything we talked about whilst in the forest choosing a name for the stag. It was meant to be mine and her secret. It wasn't the fact that he broke tradition that annoyed me, it was the fact that he didn't know what it meant to me. I want to know his wife, in the future. I want to be friends with her."
"Perhaps it's because he didn't know about the bonding and stuff. If he is the heir, being raised by the Head of the Clan, then he wouldn't have been told that stuff. Your dad would have been the one to give Yoshino Brefew, right? Then he knew with more detail what was to happen. And if whoever Shikamaru marries can't get along with you, then something is extremely wrong with her."
Ryota gave a small hum before laughing. "Look who's awake!"
Shikamaru jumped, thinking he had been busted, only for a third voice to ring out.
"What time is it?" Hinata asked.
"Seven in the morning," Ryota answered.
Figuring he had ears dropped enough, Shikamaru walked around the corner, trying to act natural.
"It feels earlier than that," he grumbled.
"You're awake too," Naruto exclaimed, her eyes having the same glassy look that Ryota had. A cup of sake was still in her hand, half full. "How are you two feeling?"
"Sore." Hinata plopped down next to the blonde, cuddling into her. "I don't really remember last night."
"Soooo, you don't remember Kankuro kissing you?" Naruto gave a laugh when Hinata snapped up into a sitting position. "I take that as a no. In his defence he was pretty drunk too."
"I think I'm going to be sick. I need to wash out my mouth." Hinata ran off to the bathroom as Naruto and Ryota tried to hold in their laughter.
"And how is your memory?' Ryota asked, looking far to amused.
"Pretty good, actually. I didn't drink as much as last time I got drunk."
"Which is probably why you didn't feel me up this time," Naruto joked.
"If you were wearing nothing but a t-shirt again I would have," Shikamaru retorted, sitting heavily in an arm chair. "Is it really seven?"
"Yeah, Aunt and Uncle are already awake and helping to clean up the mess outside." Ryota took a sip of his drink.
"I should probably get Hinata home and get some sleep." Naruto put her drink down, yawning as she finished talking.
"You two haven't gone to sleep?" Shikamaru asked in surprise, looking at their sheepish smiles.
When Hinata came back Ryota offered to walk the two women home. Naruto waved him off, assuring him that she could manage. After the two Nara men had walked them to the estate's gate and said goodbye, Shikamaru started leading Ryota to his house so he could get some sleep.
"I overheard you," Shikamaru confessed, watching people flit around the estate, cleaning up the wedding decorations. "About Fie. I'm sorry."
Ryota was silent for some time, until they had left the main court of the estate and were closer to the forest. Ryota lived in a cottage just inside the bounds of the forest, so that he could better look after the deer. It was only when they were in view of his house isolated from others that he spoke.
"Tell me why, honestly, and I will forgive you. Why did you do it? Is it because you think you won't find someone? Naruto mentioned that you were thinking about an arranged marriage. Or do you just not care enough about the tradition?" Ryota kept his eyes straight ahead as they talked, not ones glancing at Shikamaru.
Shikamaru took a deep breath. "The honest answer is that I love Naruto."
Ryota stumbled, barely catching himself as his head whipped around to look at his cousin. "What?"
"Last night when I said Naruto wasn't just a friend, I meant it. I've loved her for years. Since the academy I think. And seeing the stag with Naruto, knowing that there was a chance she wouldn't be the one to name him made me want to gut myself. I wanted to hear what she would have chosen. That's all. I didn't expect Fie to take to it but the moment she said it I knew that, even if he hadn't taken to it, that's what I would have been calling him in my head. That's why I was talking to dad about an arranged marriage. He knows about my feeling for Naruto and I was telling him about my doubts that she would ever return those feelings."
Ryota paused at his door, his back to Shikamaru. "I forgive you. And Shikamaru…"
"Hmm?"
The brunet looked over his shoulder. "I like Naruto, and since I can't present Fie to anyone else, you better end up with her."
Shikamaru gave his cousin a soft smile. "Working on it."
"Work harder," was the last thing Ryota said before walking into his cottage, making Shikamaru grunt.
Merry late Christmas! Or Happy Holidays, whatever you celebrate. I was hoping to have this done before Xmas but my husband has a lot of family and a fair few of them were born in this month (right around the 25th no less). *sigh* So this is a VERY busy time for us. But it has finally slowed down and this chapter is finally done. Yeey.
R and R. And don't forget to check out the facebook page.