People are Troublesome

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine.

The sun was starting to set when they emerged from Hidan's place, the air cold enough for their breaths to mist. They'd retreated back to his place after school and now they were going out for reasons Shikamaru did not know. His boyfriend did some weird things sometimes.

"Where are we going now?" Shikamaru had accepted it as they walked down the street but now he was being taken down weird paths and wasn't sure where he was.

"A place I like."

"But why now."

"'Cause I like it best at night!" He gave him a disgusted and exasperated expression at how stupid he was.

"OK…" Rather than being afraid of him nowadays, Shikamaru was starting to find his little eccentricities more endearing. Or perhaps his personality was just infectious.

"S'not like you won't like it! It has no people in it!"

"Most places don't at this time of day."

"It's why I go out more at this time a day."

"Understandable."

Though he did wonder why they hadn't brought a torch. Hidan walked towards some kind of weird country path lined with hedges and devoid of any street lighting. The faint glow of the sunset was still keeping it lit enough to navigate for now but he had to wonder how they'd get back.

"Have we got a light?" Those pockets looked empty and too small to hold anything useful.

"Why'd we need that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Because it'll be dark soon. As happens every day."

"Ya don' need it! I used ta come out in the dark all the time!"

"Are you an owl or something?"

"Nah I just don't need a torch 'cause I'm not a little bitch."

"Because having normal eyes is weak."

"Exactly." How he came out with this stuff he didn't know, but it was still funny.

Hidan led him up to a field at the end of the trail, a well-worn path leading to a large lump in the middle of it. This little hill was bare and at the top, Shikamaru could see the view around them; wide-spreading and greener than he'd thought it would be. The town stayed just hidden but fields and trees rolled on, only just visible under the darkening sky. OK, it was quite beautiful.

"Ya like?" Hidan grinned at him, puffing out his chest proudly as he did so.

"I've never been here before…" Weird but then, undiscovered treasures existed in plain sight everywhere.

"It's great ain't it?" He felt like he was being questioned by a giant puppy.

"Yeah it's great. Thanks for showing me." And he reached up to pat Hidan on the head. While he seemed to lean into it at first, slowly some kind of idea seemed to come to him and he began to scowl.

"Are you patronisin' me?!"

"Yes."

"Hey!" Hidan sat down with a loud huff, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry but it was quite funny." Shikamaru perched next to him on the rapidly cooling grass.

"I ain't a dog."

"Mostly." Hidan hissed in his direction. "If it makes you feel better, I like that about you."

"Ya like that I'm stupid?"

"I don' think you're stupid. And I meant more that you are kind of…" How did he say this without being too embarrassing? "You're… cute. When you're being unashamed of how you feel I mean. I like it when you just do things." He was rambling, growing increasingly uncomfortable as he did so.

Hidan did not respond with words to this statement. But Shikamaru felt him bury his face into the back of his neck and his arms and legs wrapped around Shikamaru. In the slightly chilly air, it felt like he had a cloak of warmth around him. It was comfortable to share the embarrassment like this.

Shikamaru watched the landscape instead. The colours fading to harsh, black silhouettes and the sky going from a washed out blue to an orange to dusky pink to lilac, gradually deepening to black dotted with stars.

"How did you find this?" He eventually asked.

"I used ta like walkin' around a lot. Better than stayin' at home."

"Was it bad?" They'd spoken a little about it but not enough for him to really know.

"Nothin' really happened. I just didn' have anyone ta talk to or anythin' ta do so I walked. Not much goin' on." He didn't sound very upset.

"You were a little young to be walking around at night." Anything could have happened to him.

"It didn' matter."

"It would've been unfortunate if you'd been hurt. Or worse…"

"Yeah…" He felt Hidan shift. "I didn'… I didn' care about that kinda thing."

"You…" It took a moment for this to sink in. "You didn't care about getting hurt?"

"No. I didn' wanna die or anythin' but if I did die, it would've been OK too." Why had he not realised this before? Why hadn't he worked it out? They were very different after all; there were things Hidan had experienced that he couldn't understand.

"I'm sorry." What else could he say?

"For what?" Now that was a question. But he had something he needed to know.

"For… For before. Did it hurt?"

"Did what hurt?"

"Feeling that way?" It would make sense and it seemed like a stupid question but he felt like he needed to try to see what he could. Hidan hummed and leant down a little more.

"Sounds weird but no. I didn't feel much cause I didn' care. It… hurt more later." His grip round Shikamaru tightened.

"Why?" It was weird. This view was lovely but he was barely seeing it at all right now.

"Feelin' after not feelin' was weird. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah…" Well of course it did. "Why didn't you talk about this before?"

"I didn' need to." Shikamaru had to turn and look at him. Hidan didn't look bothered by this topic, more thoughtful. But he looked startled as Shikamaru realised his eyes were tearing up. He had to quickly dab at his eyes. "Why're you cryin'?!"

"I just feel weird about all this. I mean, this has to still affect you?" He rarely cried so this was annoying. Troublesome emotions… You're not the one who was going through all that.

"You're cryin' for me?!" He blinked in the half-light. "Ya don' have ta worry. 'M fine. Puppet fucker is a shitty guy but he made some stuff better."

"But you…" He paused. He didn't know how to elaborate on this. It just couldn't be that easy to get rid of stuff like that though, could it?

"'M not perfect but it got better ya know? And then I met you so shit's not so bad."

"I'm glad to hear it? Sorry I guess I'm still in shock." Hearing something like that would change the way you saw a person. Knowing someone had felt that terrible as a child, it made him feel a strange kind of protectiveness.

"Guess that was kinda heavy huh?"

"I'm glad you told me though." It was good to share this stuff.

"Ya ever gonna tell me more shit about you?"

"Like?" He thought Hidan knew most things about him.

"I dunno. Why're ya so lazy? I always wondered that."

"Because I am? It's not like there's some mystical reason. I just like taking it easy. I mainly just napped in school because I got bored."

"Too smart."

"I guess. It's not like I asked to be born smart."

"It was funny ta watch."

"I'm glad you were amused." It was kind of funny that someone he had been afraid of had been laughing at him the whole time. "You were watching me a lot huh?"

"Yeah you were funny. Some of the shit ya used to say was funny too."

"We should have spoken sooner shouldn't we?" They would have gotten on if they had started talking more. And maybe he could have helped sooner.

"Ya ain't gonna be worryin' about me now are ya?"

"Probably. I know you said you had felt better but…" Some things just didn't magically go away.

"I did feel better. I try ta avoid death like a normal person y'know."

"Good." Though that was a weird way to put it.

"Just look." Hidan pointed up. "It's all pretty up there." Shikamaru had to admit he wasn't wrong.

"That is pretty. Is that why you used to come here?"

"Yeah. Makes things feel small and shit."

"A good way of putting it." He had some sense under there. Hidan lay on his back in the grass and Shikamaru lay next to him. This was strangely calming, even if the stuff they'd discussed had been heavy. "I have to ask this but… what happened when you met Sasori?" It'd been something he'd always wondered.

"Oh that. Why?"

"You said things got better right?"

"Eventually. At first I thought he was a shit. 'Cause he is. I was at this place and then he came ta get me and said 'why'd ya look so pissy ya little brat' so I told him to shove it and threw a chair at him. Then I went to his house."

"That's… actually exactly what I expected."

"He made me get counsellin' too but we stopped cause apparently I was 'too feral'." He rolled his eyes.

"Dare I ask, how can you be too feral for counselling?"

"I bit someone. But they started it." He could hear the pout in in his voice and he had to admit, he laughed a little.

"Sounds like you. I think you two get on well."

"…No…" Apparently he didn't want to admit it, even if he thought he had a point.

"No good memories at all?" Partly it was because he wanted to know Hidan had had some good times. It would make him feel better.

"The knife thing wasn't bad I guess."

"The what?" This would have to be interesting…

"I didn' sleep well cause my ma used ta forget to lock the door so puppet fucker gave me a knife and said just stab anyone who comes in. I slept better then."

"Wow. That's… That is inspiring parenting right there." And exactly what he'd expect from that guy.

"And he got me a birthday cake once."

"Dare I ask what happened?"

"I threw it on the floor cause we had a fight. And then we both ate some but we didn' talk. So we kinda just sat in silence eatin' floor cake." Hidan was smirking to himself.

"You ate it off the floor?"

"I cut a bit off that wasn' touchin' it!"

"It's still kind of gross."

"It tasted good!" He always went higher in pitch when he was offended and it always made Shikamaru chuckle to hear it.

Knowing what he knew now shouldn't change anything. And yet in some way, something vital seemed to have done and he didn't know why. Perhaps it was regret? Because he'd ignored and avoided him for years assuming the worst when he'd been carrying a lot of shit by himself the whole time. He knew enough to know that everyone had their own struggles so he wished he had seen it before.

But he was no therapist was he? He could barely deal with his own problems sometimes. And Hidan, if anything, had given him more help. The only thing Shikamaru had done was introduce him to his weird friends, not something major by any means.

Guess I'm too lazy for this stuff… What was the point of being smart if you can't use it in a way you needed to? Though maybe Hidan didn't need much else? This guy was even more of a mystery to him now and he wasn't sure he'd ever work him out completely.

"It's getting colder." Hidan shrugged and moved closer to Shikamaru again. "Do you want to go back?"

"If ya want." Hidan stood and stretched. "Ya want me ta lead ya back since you got… How'd ya say it? Inferior night vision."

"Yes. And also good word."

"If you're insultin' me, I'm leavin' ya behind!"