People are Troublesome

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.

The walk into school today was fraught with worries. Although his teachers hadn't contacted his parents, that didn't mean Shikamaru wasn't going to get nagged at personally for his recent bout of truancy. And there was also the inevitable mass socialisation that would come from starting a new relationship. It was going to be troublesome but he was hoping that Hidan would deal with some of it.

Suddenly having a significant other was a weird feeling. It was a big leap to go from being distant from most people to having someone clinging to you like that. Hidan had seemed better after his little outburst yesterday but he was still being a little clingy. Shikamaru didn't seem to mind too much but the extra stares were a little annoying. He didn't like people paying attention to what he was doing. At least Hidan didn't seem to care.

"The fuck is your problem asshole?!" I may have spoken too soon. Some guy had stared for a little too long and Hidan had taken offence. Shikamaru tightened his grip and guided the angry catlike man away as the target of his aggression quickly fled. "That fucker was starin' at us!"

"Just ignore it. People always stare at us." It was only Hidan who really got stared at but he was going to avoid pointing that out.

"Still annoyin'." The resting bitch face had settled in and if Shikamaru didn't know it was accidental, he'd think a murder was being planned. Though today he could actually be considering homicide.

"My friends will be the most annoying, believe me."

"Ugh."

"My feelings exactly."

The stares were irritating but neither of them seemed to want to let go of each other. It was somewhat comforting. Apparently. Hidan's vicelike grip was painful as they got deeper into the school and things became more confining. He knew he didn't like being around crowds and the physical reaction he had was more obvious when you were touching.

He's going to cut off the circulation in my hand at this rate. Shikamaru squeezed his hand in return though it was difficult with the lack of feeling in his fingers. How has he always dealt with this? It must have been shit.

The grip was released as soon as they reached the classroom and Hidan shuffled along behind him. Immediately there was a small squeal and an Ino was in his face, eyes sparkling. It wasn't hard to guess why.

"Aww Shika! I'm so happy for you!"

"Because you can indulge in your weird fantasies?"

"No. Because it was obviously going to happen and I won a bet over it." Ah. Should have seen that coming.

"What did you win?" He hoped it was something decent.

"An all you can eat meal for myself and one other…" That poor fool. It was obvious she was going to take Choji.

"How did you find out?" Surely it wouldn't have been a huge thing.

"Naruto told me." Shikamaru blinked. And then he looked over at Hidan who was conveniently ambling away. What did he tell him? He just had to pray it wasn't anything embarrassing. "I want details too."

"Because you're a nosy bastard?"

"Because I want to know what convinced you to finally get intimate with someone."

"Even I'm not sure." He just knew that the reason was currently eyeing him from the corner of the room, trying to hide the smug smile on its face from leaving him alone with Ino.

-Page Break-

It had been inevitable really. Something good had happened and now it was to be followed by something troublesome. And he had barely any time to prepare for the encounter; he'd just sat down for maths (they were doing geometry; he hated geometry), when he was called out to the staff room. He expected Asuma was the cause and, sure enough, there he sat at his desk.

The staff room itself was large-ish but practically empty. Most of the teachers were currently in class after all. It was just a pain having Asuma looking at him with that disappointed glare. As he approached, resigned to the lecture he was about to get, he noticed another occupant in the room. A redhead with his face fixed firmly to the desk. Sasori was slacking off it seemed, probably because of a hangover.

"Shikamaru, could you sit?" He gestured to a chair he had already set up.

"I'd rather stand." Lazy as he was, he didn't want to be eye-level with that ass. And it would mean further effort in getting up again. Asuma sighed.

"It would be better if we could talk about this like adults."

"Adults can make their own decisions without other people shitting all over them." Where did that come from? Hidan was probably a bad influence on him. A small movement out of the corner of his eye showed that Sasori was now peering up over his arms, entertained by the show taking place.

"I am helping you, I've told you this. And that wasn't why I called you here." And now it begins. He didn't remember why he'd ever gotten on with Asuma before, because now he just made him feel bad about himself. "You've been skipping school."

"I've been ill." Sasori coughed and made a drinking gesture. Asuma didn't seem to have noticed.

"Why didn't we get a phone call from your mother?"

"Why are you questioning me instead of Iruka?" Their class teacher was the one who was supposed to be dealing with all of this, not some random science teacher.

"Because I know you."

"Because you insisted I bet." As if anyone else would care enough. He could see Sasori pulling a 'shocked' expression. Looking at him directly would give all away so he had to fix his eyes on Asuma, annoying as it was.

"You need to stop doing all this. Every time I try to help you, you just throw it in my face. Maybe we should be talking to your parents."

"I'm doing my work, I'm passing my tests; I'm doing nothing wrong."

"Except skipping school."

"I was sick." He met Asuma's stare with a cold one of his own. He could be very stubborn if he wanted to be.

"I'm going to have to call your parents about this."

"Make sure you mention I should be studying six hours a night while you're at it."

"You're not funny." Sasori's headshake implied he disagreed. "I'm going to talk to them tonight."

"Good."

"I hope you'll be there." Meaning; you should definitely be there.

"I might." If hell freezes over. "Can I go back to class now?"

"Alright. But I was you here at four this afternoon, ok?"

"Fine."

Shikamaru, finally released into the hall, let out a deep sigh. It seemed there was no escape from the interference in his life. Why did it matter that he was an apparent genius? If he hated it, then he hated it. Although, he figured, that was what school was generally like. Forcing you into something you hated because someone else decided it was good for you to do, not a thought for the effects on your happiness.

It was just lucky that Shikamaru was resilient. He could withstand the pressure by retreating lazily to the depths of his brain or even to his room. Sleep always stopped people pestering him too much. There was only one thing he could decide on right now and that was that he would not be going home tonight.

-Page Break-

He actually smiled. Huh. Shikamaru did let his gaze linger on Hidan as he watched him talking to Naruto. The pair of them got one very well for reasons unknown and, aside from Shikamaru, he seemed to be the only one capable of bringing him out of his shell a little.

"I think I understand why you like him," Ino stage-whispered as she leant into him. This earned her an elbow to the side. "Ow! How could you strike a lady in such a manner?"

"I see no lady."

"OK, good point."

Shikamaru looked back at Hidan, currently discussing something likely to be bad news with Naruto. At least he seemed relaxed with another person. Unlike Shikamaru who was still annoyed hours after the argument. No one else currently knew what happened, only that he was annoyed by something.

The biggest issue facing him right now was that his last class would be with Asuma; harder to actually escape. So he would have to just avoid the thing entirely. This wouldn't be too difficult. He made his move just after the bell sounded.

"I need to go to my locker so I'll meet you guys later." Sasuke, who he had aimed this at, shrugged. Hidan he gripped by the sleeve so he knew he would be needed.

"What're ya doin'?"

"Locker. You're coming too."

"Oh my."

"Shut up Ino." They moved away from the group, walking in silence until they were relatively alone.

"So what we actually doin'?"

"Leaving." Hidan blinked, clearly a little surprised.

"I thought you wanted to be here?"

"Asuma wants me to have a meeting with him and my parents after school and he has got another think coming if he thinks I'll be there."

"So you wanna hide?"

"I'm going to need to stay at yours… If that's OK?"

"Sure." Then he paused. "Fuck! It's probably still a shithole."

"Wonderful."

The majority of the school was on the move to various classes so two people moving around attracted no attention. Crossing the field to the escape point was a little more risky, but Hidan was practiced enough to know that if you looked like you were supposed to be doing something, people would think you should. They avoided too much conversation until they were off-site where no one could see them.

"Why did ya even talk to the fucker?"

"He called me out."

"What, like a duel?" In spite of his low mood, Shikamaru sniggered.

"No. As in out of class."

"Oh… I woulda punched him."

"I know." Perhaps I should go to the meeting and bring Hidan; that would be a laugh. "I think I'm going to be in some deep shit when I get home."

"I don't get why they worry when you always get that stupid shit done."

"Apparently it's not enough. I have to get every school qualification possible and maybe three degrees. Though I don't know, they might not be happy without a phD."

This was the crux of the problem; he wasn't being given a choice. His mother had nagged him a reasonable amount but as he had usually just gotten on with things, she had used to leave him be. Until Asuma had started going on and making his parents feel like he could do amazing things with his brain. Skipping school wasn't a good idea to be sure, but recently he'd stopped giving a shit. Whether Hidan was a good or bad influence was uncertain.

"Do ya want all that shit?"

"Not really. I'd be happy with anything."

"Not really a problem then."

"You'd think so."

He'd never really understood why Asuma had taken it on himself to do all this when no one had asked him to. Interfering people like him just made things worse.

"You can stay at mine as long as ya want I guess… It's kinda my fault." He looked at least a little ashamed.

"I'll be taking you up on that one." He would be free from being pestered there.

-Page Break-

"Was this all just you?"

"Some of it was Naruto!" OK… But that's still a lot of alcohol and junk food.

"You are weird." Shikamaru ignored the indignant squawk and got on with picking up rubbish to stick in the bin. It was probably a health hazard in here.

While cleaning, Shikamaru could only focus entirely on that and so avoided contact with the phone. An hour later though, he could see there were thirty seven missed calls from his mother. He sighed.

And then he noticed the message from Naruto and felt a pang of guilt. Clearly his mother was trying his friends to find him. Although he couldn't deal with talking to her right now, he had to stop her messaging people. A quick text to inform her that he'd be home sometime and the phone was switched off.

"You OK?"

"Fine."

"Ahh… Then, do you want ta do somethin'?"

"What?"

"Err…" Is he being shy? Hidan lightly pulled Shikamaru's arm until he was guided into a sitting position on Hidan's lap. Now it was Shikamaru's turn to feel embarrassed.

Although awkward in his movements, he was more confident than Shikamaru as he guided his hand over Shikamaru's abdomen, lightly stroking the skin under his shirt. It was more of an exploratory touch than anything else, though Shikamaru did flinch when it got a little low.

"What are you doing?"

"Shit, sorry. Just… I don't know…" Likely he was just trying things out. He wasn't sure how he could respond to this. But then, he reasoned, he needed to take his mind off things. Maybe he should try a different kind of distraction…