Sorry this is late, but at least it's here now!
All characters belong to Kishimoto-san.
Chapter 28: Groceries and Expensive Fish
With the weekend came the end of August and the beginning of September. The weather had gotten colder, and Shikamaru wrapped his blankets tighter around himself, trying to get comfortable in the last few minutes before his alarm went off.
Just as he had finally gotten warm again and was about to drift off to sleep, the loud shrill of his alarm jolted him awake. Shikamaru sat up, surprised by the sudden noise, before staring hazily at the digital clock on his desk. It was one in the afternoon, and Shikamaru was satisfied to know he had slept for a good twelve hours, especially after last night.
The young teenager shook his head, remembering the events from the previous night. Naruto's guardian Jiraiya, who had been gone for four months, had sent a letter saying he would be back on Tuesday, and, in a flurry of excitement, Naruto had decided to host an impromptu party at his place. Shikamaru, being the dedicated friend that he was, couldn't turn down Naruto's invitation. It was also a bonus for him to be out of the house and away from his troublesome mother.
"Nara Shikamaru, I hope you're up by now!" A stern voice demanded, and Shikamaru groaned, flopping out of bed.
"I am!" Shikamaru yelled back, knowing his mother would storm up into his room if she didn't get a response.
There was no reply, and Shikamaru took that as a sign that he was off the hook. Of course, his mother hadn't been too pleased that he had been at Naruto's up to one a.m. in the morning, but Shikamaru knew that his mother had a soft spot for Naruto and would allow her son to stay up late into the night if it meant keeping the orphan company.
Now that he was out of bed, Shikamaru was feeling the chill again, and he forced himself to get up and rummage around for warmer clothes, tugging on a green sweater and a pair of gray sweats, before clumsily tying his hair up into its spiky ponytail.
Shikamaru stumbled out of his room to get ready for the day. As much as he hated to admit it, he was hungry. The smell of cooked food wafted up and Shikamaru questioned if his mother did it on purpose to get him out of bed.
Shikaku was sitting at the table, looking over a handful of papers when Shikamaru came down. He glanced up as his son entered, looking as sleepy as ever.
"Didn't get much sleep last night?" Shikaku asked, and Shikamaru shrugged, reaching for the only unused pair of chopsticks on the table.
"You know how Naruto is," Yoshino said. "He's a little on the wild end."
"That boy isn't the problem," Shikaku mused. "It's Jiraiya-san we should be more careful about. I'm afraid his bad habits might be rubbing off on the poor boy."
Shikamaru said nothing, having never met the legendary author himself.
"He's not that bad," a new voice said, and Shikamaru lazily turned around to greet the newcomer, whose voice he could recognize even while half-asleep.
It was Inoichi, along with Chouza and his son. Chouji greeted Shikamaru with a smile, and Shikamaru returned the expression.
"But his perverted ways are a cause for concern," Chouza was arguing as the trio slipped into the dining room.
"Hey, those books are for adults anyways," Inoichi shrugged.
Shikaku narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Why do you make it sound like you've read his books before?"
"What are you saying?" Inoichi spluttered. "I would never read such a thing!"
"Not publicly, at least," Shikaku said knowingly.
Yoshino cast him a sharp look. "Is there something we need to know about your reading habits, Shikaku?"
Shikaku swallowed. "No, not at all, my dear."
Yoshino continued to glare at him, and Shikamaru decided to rescue his father from his predicament.
"You guys are working at our place today?" Shikamaru interjected, and to his relief, the adults focused their attention on him.
Chouza nodded. "Your father was onto something last night, and he wanted us to come and look it over. There's no point in working at the office when we can just work here."
Shikamaru nodded, respectfully scooting his chair aside so the two men would have more room at the table.
"Where's Ino?" Shikamaru asked Chouji as the other boy sat down on Shikamaru's other side.
"She's hanging out with Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan."
"Well, that's a relief," Shikamaru mumbled, stuffing more food into his mouth. "She's always a pain to have around."
Chouji smiled softly. "You wouldn't trade her for anyone else, though."
"No, I wouldn't," Shikamaru agreed. He and Chouji spent another half hour eating in comfortable silence, watching as the minute-hand on the clock ticked by, before both got up to play some video games.
It was around four in the afternoon when Yoshino poked her head into Shikamaru's room.
"Chouji, your mother is downstairs, just so you know. And, if you boys have nothing better to do, would you mind going down to the store and picking up some food? We don't think there's enough meat for tomorrow night."
Chouji nodded eagerly at the idea of food, and Shikamaru stood up. "Yeah, sure."
The two boys pulled on their jackets and headed out into the frigid weather, with Shikamaru carelessly stuffing the money his mother had given him, as well as the house keys, into his jacket pocket.
"Whose turn is it again?" Shikamaru asked as they walked. "Your turn?"
"Yup." Chouji's face turned dreamy as he continued. "My mom wants to try out this new sauce on the barbecue tomorrow. She's only let my dad taste a sample, and he says it's really good."
Shikamaru chuckled. "Well, you won't know until tomorrow. What else does she have planned?"
"That's a secret," Chouji said mysteriously.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "So, you don't know."
"No, not really," Chouji admitted sheepishly.
The two boys arrived at the store, and they immediately headed to the meat section. Shikamaru grabbed a shopping cart while Chouji examined the meat.
"So, when she said meat, did she mean literally meat, or does she want a specific type?" Shikamaru grumbled, leaning slightly on the cart.
Chouji didn't seem as concerned as his partner; he was already grabbing two packs of meat and placing them on the cart before going back to grab more.
"Beef," Chouji said. "And chicken."
Shikamaru shrugged, glad that at least one of them knew what they were doing. Chouji seemed to be occupied for the moment, so Shikamaru let his mind and gaze wander absentmindedly.
To his left, there were a pair of junior high students arguing over what type of candy was better, and a mother scolding her son for knocking over some boxes. To the right, there was an elderly couple waiting patiently for the fishmonger to finish cleaning their fish, and right next to them were a father and daughter pair who were also buying fish. A store worker dumped some fresh crabs into the live crab crate, and a couple clams squirted water as a young child poked at them with the ladle.
"This is a rip-off! You're telling me this is the actual price? I could probably buy salmon for cheaper!"
Shikamaru started at the sudden shout, nearly sliding off his cart as it slid a few inches away from him. His alert eyes swept the area, and spotted the father and daughter by the fish. The daughter was arguing in a rather embarrassingly loud tone with one of the fishmongers and Shikamaru shook his head at the loud noise, wondering what type of person would cause such a scene in a market of all places.
Chouji spotted him looking in that direction. "Did you want mackerel or something?"
Shikamaru barely heard the words; his attention was fixed back on the father-daughter pair again. This time, he recognized them, and with horror, he realized they weren't a father and his daughter; no, they were the oldest child of the Kazekage and her escort. No wonder her voice had seemed so hauntingly familiar to him.
"Are you done?" Shikamaru asked abruptly, turning his back on Temari before she could spot him.
"What?" Chouji asked, perplexed by Shikamaru's sudden reaction.
"Meat," Shikamaru expanded upon his previous question. "Are you done buying them?"
Chouji nodded haltingly. "Uh, yeah. Why?"
Shikamaru said nothing, quickly pushing the cart in the opposite direction. Chouji followed, unsure of the reason they were fleeing but trusting Shikamaru anyways.
"Do we need anything else?" Shikamaru asked as he continued pushing the cart, barely paying attention to where he was going.
Chouji opened his mouth to answer, but before he got the chance to, he was stopped by the sight of two boys standing in front of them.
"Shikamaru!" Chouji warned, and it was only then Shikamaru noticed the two in front of him, and tried to stop his cart in time, to no avail.
Fortunately, the two boys were paying attention, and the taller one put out a hand, calmly stopping the cart.
"Well, if it isn't Nara."
"Oh, uh, hey, fancy seeing you guys here," Shikamaru said, his eyes darting back and forth nervously between the younger children of the Kazekage.
"Please pay attention to where you are going," Gaara advised.
Shikamaru nodded. "Right. Sorry. I was in a hurry."
"Why? You late for something?" Kankuro asked. "Is it your turn to cook dinner or what?"
"I don't cook," Shikamaru muttered.
"Doesn't seem that way," Kankuro commented.
"It's meat, Kankuro," Gaara said. "They can just grill it. It doesn't require a lot of cooking skills."
Kankuro shrugged. "I would probably burn it, though, even if it were just grilling meat."
"Yeah, we all know what a disaster you are in the kitchen."
Shikamaru groaned internally. She had found him in the end.
"So, Nara, where do you need to be that you left in such a hurry without even saying hi?" Temari asked.
Shikamaru looked at anything but her, mumbling something under his breath.
"Are you calling me troublesome again?" Temari demanded, and Shikamaru flinched a little, involuntarily taking a step backwards.
"No," Shikamaru denied. He cleared his throat. "Anyways, uh, it was nice seeing you, but I have to go."
"Why?" Chouji interrupted, not catching on to Shikamaru's mood. "It's not like we have anywhere to be after this. And we still have to pick up some other things."
"Oh. Right."
Temari raised an eyebrow at him but didn't call him out for his lie. Instead she turned to her siblings.
"Where's Baki-sensei?" Kankuro asked.
"Buying the fish," Temari growled, remembering the reason she had left.
"Then why are you here?" Gaara questioned. "Weren't you buying it?"
"Yes," Temari said, letting out a huff. She crossed her arms, unmistakably agitated. "But the guy was clearly ripping me off. It was just way too much for one measly fish, and I told him as much! Besides, it's not like this is Suna, where we're far away from all ports so seafood would be expensive. We're in Konoha, for fuck's sake! They eat seafood here all the time!"
"He could probably tell you're a foreigner," Shikamaru spoke up without thinking. Temari cast him an icy glare.
"Oh, really, now?" Temari said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Shikamaru backed away again. "I'm just saying."
Temari let out another huff. "Maybe I should just have you buy it for me."
"What? No!" Shikamaru declined immediately.
"Why? Is it too troublesome for you?" Temari snapped. "How can you even call yourself a man if you won't even escort a lady around?"
"You don't qualify much as a lady," Shikamaru griped.
"What did you just say?" Temari challenged, and Kankuro let out a barely concealed snicker.
Shikamaru shrugged helplessly, having no choice but to answer lest Temari got even angrier by his lack of response.
"I mean, ladies are…refined."
"And I'm not?" There was something in Temari's expression that directed Shikamaru to silence himself, but the prideful part of him refused to back down.
"Not really, no," Shikamaru upheld.
The glare Temari gave him earlier paled in comparison to the one she was shooting his way now. Shikamaru turned to his best friend to plead for help, but the other boy was feigning interest in a bottle of soy sauce.
"Oh, really?" Temari said, narrowing her teal eyes at him. "And what would you know about refined ladies, you sexist prick?"
"Okay, calm down now, Temari," Kankuro interfered. "He does make a good point—I mean, a point. That's not necessarily good. I mean, no, it's not a good point. But it is a point, even if it's not good."
Temari stared at him in disbelief. "Are you siding with him?"
"Uh," Kankuro stammered. "No."
"Temari, you need to calm down," Gaara said quietly; his hand wavered in the air as if he had wanted to touch his sister reassuringly but then thought against it. "You're still upset over the fish, and I think it's unfair for you to take it out on Shikamaru-kun and Kankuro."
"What, you, too?" Temari lashed out, but at the last moment, she seemed to remember where she was, and, more specifically, who she was talking to. She bit her lip, as if to stop herself from blurting anything else, before turning on her heel and stalking away.
"Well. That was awkward," Kankuro observed.
Both Shikamaru and Chouji said nothing, uncertain what the two brothers were going to do next.
Gaara spoke. "You'll have to forgive my sister. She often lets her temper get the better of her."
"Yeah, that and, for some reason, she seems to be oddly irked lately," Kankuro added.
Chouji and Shikamaru exchanged glances, and Chouji, being the politer of the two, took the initiative.
"It's alright," Chouji said. "If you want, we can show you around. Shikamaru here might be useless when it comes to food, but there's no one who knows it better than I."
"I appreciate the offer, but aren't you busy?" Gaara asked, remembering Shikamaru's harried state earlier.
Chouji looked to Shikamaru, silently asking him to carry on the conversation, which he reluctantly did so.
"I don't like wasting time," Shikamaru defended himself. "There's no point dawdling around inside a grocery store."
Kankuro smirked. "Says the laziest person out here."
Shikamaru shrugged, amending his explanation. "I'm not fond of being in public spaces. I'd rather waste time at home than here."
"Then we won't bother you any longer," said Gaara, nodding his head respectfully.
"Are you sure?" Chouji asked. "We don't mind staying here with you guys."
"It is fine," Gaara confirmed. "We will manage on our own, like we always have."
"Okay," Chouji said, placing his hands back on the shopping cart. "Come on, Shikamaru, we still have other stuff to get, and I don't think your mom will be pleased if we take too long without good reason."
"We should be going, too," Gaara said. "We have to find Temari."
"Yeah, and hope she hasn't killed someone yet," Kankuro said.
Gaara nodded his head in farewell. "We will be making our leave now. I will see you two tomorrow."
He had barely taken a few steps when he confronted the two Konohagakure students again.
"Are you busy tomorrow, Shikamaru-kun?"